Transport for London is restructuring bus routes 19 and 38 due to falling demand and unreliability, but passengers and stakeholders argue it will unfairly impact the elderly and the vulnerable
Transport for London (TfL) has confirmed it will restructure some of its bus services connecting north, central, east and south London despite significant opposition.
Changes to bus routes 19 and 38 are slated to come into effect from November 2026, alongside the introduction of a new route 10, following a public consultation held earlier this year. TfL says the proposals have emerged from a fall in demand for route 38 and the need to make the “unreliable” route 19 more efficient.
Route 19, which currently runs between Finsbury Park and Battersea Bridge, will now divert at Hyde Park Corner and instead terminate at Victoria. Early morning Sunday services will be more frequent, running every 12 minutes.
Route 38, which currently runs between Clapton and Victoria, has been curtailed to terminate at New Oxford Street in Holborn instead. TfL says this will maintain passenger links to London’s Tube network.
The frequency of route 38 buses will be halved from every 5 minutes to every 10 minutes on Saturdays. Services on Sundays, early mornings and evenings will also be reduced to every 10 minutes.
A new additional service, provisionally numbered route 10, will be introduced to “maintain essential capacity” between Essex Road and Holborn, and to keep direct links between Battersea Bridge and Central London.
More than 1,600 people responded to the consultation, with a majority of respondents opposing the changes. Sixty-four per cent of route 19 users said the changes would make their trips less convenient, and 72 per cent of route 38 users said the same.
The plans also sparked opposition from Islington Council and Westminster City Council, who both warned their residents would lose out on critical bus services and this would disproportionately hit elderly, vulnerable and low-income residents.
Hackney South & Shoreditch MP, Dame Meg Hillier, opposed the plans on the grounds that buses were a “de facto Tube network” for Hackney residents, who did not share the same access to London Underground network as other boroughs. Dame Hillier urged TfL to instead focus on cutting congestion arising from Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs) and cycle lanes rather than scrapping the 38 route’s through-service to Victoria.
Many passengers had “repeatedly” argued that areas like Dalston, Clapton and Hackney more broadly did not have the convenient London Underground access like other boroughs, according to TfL’s survey. The shortening of route 38 also angered many respondents, who argued it would make their trips longer and more expensive while causing severe overcrowding at already busy stops.
Camden Council broadly welcomed TfL’s strategy but raised concerns about the changes affecting the council’s traffic measures in Holborn. Council officers said that placing the 38 bus terminus on New Oxford Street could “overload” Bury Place, where bus stands are due to be relocated. This would interfere with the council’s £40m Holborn Liveable Neighbourhood project to cut traffic and make the area more walkable, officers said.
In response to concerns around the loss of early morning and late evening direct services from Hackney to Victoria, TfL amended its plans, proposing to extend the N38 night bus service’s operations to start an hour earlier and finish an hour later all week.
Feedback from the consultation also prompted TfL to extend route 10’s proposed terminus from Mildmay Park to Newington Green on the border of Hackney and Islington due to concerns about a lack of space for bus stands.
TfL added that it would keep all changes under review, and would carry out passenger loading surveys after the changes come into effect.
Got a story? Email josef.steen@reachplc or @jslondonldr on X.
Stay in the loop with the latest North London news. Sign up to our MyNorthLondon newsletter HERE for daily updates and more.
