Changes to the 14 and 414 bus routes

Transport for London (TfL) has announced its intention to go ahead with axing the 414 bus, with the changes due to be implemented in February 2025. While expected, this decision is still disappointing. What particularly concerns me is that the proposal to increase the frequency of the 14 to cope with extra passenger demand on the route doesn’t go anywhere near far enough.

Transport for London maintains that, by increasing the frequency of the 14, a decent service will remain even though there will be fewer buses per hour than now. Having spoken to passengers and bus drivers themselves, I’m not convinced.

I worry that the 14 will be overcrowded at peak times and that the reduced frequency will affect people heading to the Royal Marsden or Chelsea and Westminster Hospitals. Disabled and older people would have to change buses at Hyde Park Corner to reach Marble Arch – and if they live near the inaccessible Putney Bridge station, they would no longer have a bus that links them easily with the tube.

I’ve met the Deputy Mayor for Transport and made that clear to him. One bus every eight minutes simply won’t deal with the demand and I’ve asked for a rethink as a matter of urgency before the changes are introduced.

Separately, I’ve asked for a review of the operation of the 211 bus. The decision to divert it to Battersea Power Station rather than Waterloo was wrong in my view. It served as an important link between St Thomas’s Hospital and the Royal Brompton, the Royal Marsden, Chelsea and Westminster and Charing Cross Hospitals, and I would like to see it reinstated.

I am encouraged by the Deputy Mayor’s promise to look into these issues and to work together to improve the bus network serving Chelsea and Fulham.

Following my recent meeting with TfL about Putney Bridge underground station, I also pressed the Deputy Mayor to provide step-free access at this station and Parsons Green. Numerous residents and the Fulham FC Disabled Supporters Club, who I’ve met with, have long argued for this. It becomes all the more important given the decision to axe the 414.

I’m further pressing TfL on the desperate need to refurbish the ticket hall and other areas which have clearly not been maintained for years. I understand that TfL is in a financially difficult position but the need for investment to improve our local public transport links is clear.