Request ID: FOI-1741-2223 Date published: 02 November 2022
You asked
Dear Sirs,
Under FOI, please provide the following information:
Any criteria or guidance or similar used when deciding or reviewing which bus stops should be served an “express” bus, i.e. one with a route number beginning with “X”.
The dates that previous reviews have taken place for the route X26.
The outcomes of those reviews.
Any processes whereby the public may request a bus stop be served by an express bus.
We answered
TfL Ref: FOI-1741-2223
Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 18th October 2022 asking for information about express bus services.
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 some of the information you require. Your questions are answered in turn below:
Question 1: Any criteria or guidance or similar used when deciding or reviewing which bus stops should be served an “express” bus, i.e. one with a route number beginning with “X”.
Answer: We do not have any formal guidance for this. On the X26 and the relatively recently introduced X140 we have generally sited stops where we know there are high levels of demand and/or easy interchange with other services. This generally means town centres.
Question 2: The dates that previous reviews have taken place for the route X26.
And;
Question 3: The outcomes of those reviews.
Answer: We undertook a major review of the X26 in early 2016. We investigated increasing the frequency from a bus every 30 minutes to one every 20 minutes. However, this did not produce enough passenger benefit to justify any increase. We are shortly about to start another major review as part of the preparation for letting a new contract – due to begin in early 2024. There have been some changes to running times in the past few years to help run the route more reliably in response to changing traffic conditions.
Question 4: Any processes whereby the public may request a bus stop be served by an express bus.”
Answer: If a member of the public wrote to us requesting a change to the stopping arrangements we would investigate and let them know why we could or could not do it. There is always a trade-off, particularly on express services, between the number of stops served and the speed of the service. Customers can contact TfL via the following pages of our website: https://tfl.gov.uk/help-and-contact/
If this is not the information you are looking for please do not hesitate to contact me.
Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal as well as information on copyright and what to do if you would like to re-use any of the information we have disclosed.
Yours sincerely,
David Wells FOI Case Officer FOI Case Management Team General Counsel Transport for London
