Bus services altered following closure of Hammersmith Bridge
BY YANN TEAR
yann@londonweeklynews.online
Transport for London (TfL) has announced that it is reorganising bus services in areas affected by the closure of Hammersmith Bridge.
Feedback is being requested from passengers about the changes, even though they will come into effect immediately, with a new timetable running until the middle of October.
Six bus routes have been changed since the bridge closure and one new route is being introduced. The new route 533 will run between Barnes and Hammersmith via Chiswick Bridge.
It runs along Hammersmith Bridge Road, Great West Road, the A316, Chiswick Bridge, Lower Richmond Road, Mortlake High Street (Barnes Bridge station), Lonsdale Road (eastbound only), Castelnau (southbound only), Church Road (Barnes Pond, westbound only) and Barnes High Street (westbound only).
The service will be every 30 minutes daily between 5am-1am. The bus route 609 between Hammersmith and Mortlake will not be restored.
The 72 continues to run between Roehampton and East Acton but is rerouted between Barnes station and Hammersmith bus station along Lower Richmond Road, Putney Bridge and Fulham Palace Road, no longer serving Rocks Lane, Castelnau or Hammersmith Bridge Road.
Other routes affected are 33, 72, 419, 485 and 209 which will run on shortened or altered routes and TfL warn passenger will experience a change in their journeys and should check before they travel.
TfL are to increase the capacity of the 265 between Roehampton and Putney Bridge station.
Maps demonstrating the changes will be displayed at affected routes. The changes are designed to provide or enhance direct links between Roehampton, Mortlake, Barnes and the Tube network at Putney Bridge and retain a direct link between Barnes, Mortlake and Hammersmith.
TfL says it is trying to manage the impact that the closure is having on the road network.
It has already begun making changes to traffic signal timings in the area to help the flow of traffic and will continue to monitor the changes to see if more are needed.
Geoff Hobbs, director of public transport service planning at TfL, said: “We had to reshape bus services in the area as a result of the bridge closure, but now we are able to finesse our changes to reduce its impact on customers.
We urge customers to check how their journeys may be affected by visiting our website
. “We are working closely with the council’s specialist engineers to conclude the final plan, and finalise costs, for upgrading the bridge as soon as possible.”
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The signal changes include holding incoming traffic back at the A3 Robin Hood roundabout – adding another 15min travel time to commuters before suffering the congestion at Putney or Chiswick Bridge.
In other words, TFL is just moving the problem to somewhere else. Hardly an acceptable solution.
Hi. today’s date is 21st June 2019. There are no 72s running at all. In north Barnes we still have our 419 which has been re-routed but is working fine except, because of traffic it can take an hour to get to Richmond. I used the 33 from Hammersmith Bridge yesterday and it took one and a half hours to get to Richmond. We now have the 533 to get to Hammersmith but they are only half hourly – it would be good if they could be every quarter of the hour. The 209 now goes to Putney but every 10 minutes! I have seen them from Barnes Pond area and every 10 minutes if just ridiculous. Just updating you on our buses. From resident of north Barnes age 73.