Freedom of Information request - Route 240 at Edgware Bus Station
Request ID: FOI-0544-2425 Date published: 07 June 2024
You asked
Dear Transport for London,
During the night on 10/05 - 11/05, there were works taking place on Station Road, Edgware, causing a diversion for buses in the area. The posters in Edgware bus station clearly stated that route 240 was still serving the bus station as normal, despite passengers waiting a very long time for buses that did not show up.
Q1) What was the diversion route for 240 that night?
Q2) Please confirm how many route 240 buses arrived and left Edgware bus station during the diversion that night and at what time (compared to the normal timetable). For those that did not run/were late please provide the reason Metroline has given, if known.
According to the timetable, the last scheduled departure from Edgware was meant to be at 00:20 on 11/05. According to the bus times app which initially displayed a regular countdown as the bus got closer, vehicle registration LK12AWA (fleet number TE1312) was the bus which was meant to make this trip. At around 00:15, I checked the map on bustimes.org (which tracks and updates the vehicles live location every minute or so), which showed that this vehicle was travelling along the A41 Edgware Way northbound (which I presumed was the diversion to get the bus to Edgware bus station). At this point it was still showing as '240 to Edgware' on the data feed. It then used Canons Corner roundabout to make a u-turn and traveled back to Apex Corner via the A41, switching to '240 to Golders Green' and re-entering the regular line of route in the opposite direction from the Ashbourne Grove bus stop. By 00:22, the bus was showing as 'due' at Mill Hill Broadway Station on the bus times app (which is 5 minutes earlier than timetabled) and well on its way to Golders Green, having missed out Edgware bus station and the stops between there and Ashbourne Grove completely.
3) Please confirm whether this was authorised/instructed by TfL/Metroline, and the justification given this is not an official curtailment point on route 240, seems to be midway through a diversion route and the bus was not even running late?
4) If this was not authorised and in fact done by the driver to avoid the risk of being a few minutes late out of Golders Green for their final trip back to Edgware at 01:05 (and subsequent home time...) had they continued along the diversion past Canons Corner to serve Edgware bus station, will you be investigating this with Metroline and/or taking appropriate action against them for not fulfilling their contractual obligation of providing the bus service from Edgware?
5) What is your policy/guidance for operators on cancelling last buses and how do you communicate these cancellations to customers, given people may be standing in the bus station for hours waiting for a bus route that has ended for the day?
Yours faithfully,
We answered
TfL Ref: FOI-0544-2425
Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on15 May 2024 asking for information about the bus route 240.
Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy. I can confirm that we hold the information you require.
Specifically you asked:
Q1) What was the diversion route for 240 that night?
Answer: Please see the diversion from the Notice of Event (NOE) attached.
Q2) Please confirm how many route 240 buses arrived and left Edgware bus station during the diversion that night and at what time (compared to the normal timetable). For those that did not run/were late please provide the reason Metroline has given, if known.
According to the timetable, the last scheduled departure from Edgware was meant to be at 00:20 on 11/05. According to the bus times app which initially displayed a regular countdown as the bus got closer, vehicle registration LK12AWA (fleet number TE1312) was the bus which was meant to make this trip. At around 00:15, I checked the map on bustimes.org (which tracks and updates the vehicles live location every minute or so), which showed that this vehicle was travelling along the A41 Edgware Way northbound (which I presumed was the diversion to get the bus to Edgware bus station). At this point it was still showing as '240 to Edgware' on the data feed. It then used Canons Corner roundabout to make a u-turn and traveled back to Apex Corner via the A41, switching to '240 to Golders Green' and re-entering the regular line of route in the opposite direction from the Ashbourne Grove bus stop. By 00:22, the bus was showing as 'due' at Mill Hill Broadway Station on the bus times app (which is 5 minutes earlier than timetabled) and well on its way to Golders Green, having missed out Edgware bus station and the stops between there and Ashbourne Grove completely.
Answer: 15 buses arrived. Two buses are shown as departing the bus station.
3) Please confirm whether this was authorised/instructed by TfL/Metroline, and the justification given this is not an official curtailment point on route 240, seems to be midway through a diversion route and the bus was not even running late?
Answer: There was no curtailment authorised as the NOE was in operation with diversions only.
4) If this was not authorised and in fact done by the driver to avoid the risk of being a few minutes late out of Golders Green for their final trip back to Edgware at 01:05 (and subsequent home time...) had they continued along the diversion past Canons Corner to serve Edgware bus station, will you be investigating this with Metroline and/or taking appropriate action against them for not fulfilling their contractual obligation of providing the bus service from Edgware?
Answer: This has been passed on to our colleagues in the buses team who will look into why the diversion towards Golders Green was not followed.
5) What is your policy/guidance for operators on cancelling last buses and how do you communicate these cancellations to customers, given people may be standing in the bus station for hours waiting for a bus route that has ended for the day?
Answer: TfL’s policy is that first and last buses must run. When we are informed of any issues by operators, this is communicated to customers through apps and Countdown. We have passed this on to the our colleagues in the buses team who will look into this further. Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal.
Yours sincerely,
Mary Abidakun FOI Case Officer FOI Case Management Team General Counsel Transport for London
