Rail Replacement Bus Publicity - Blackheath Tunnel - how not to do it

Featured in the Future Transport London Newsletter September 2024

As passengers, do we get enough information when rail routes are closed? Network Rail (NR) closed the 175-year-old Blackheath Tunnel (between Blackheath and Charlton stations) for planned maintenance the whole ten weeks from 1st June to 11th August and train services were diverted. The NR website explained there would be no dedicated replacement buses. Instead, it promised ticket acceptance as well as sufficient capacity on TfL bus routes and (only between Blackheath and Charlton) free taxis for Mobility Impaired Passengers. However, there were no printed maps nor other journey planning information at the ten stations affected by the train diversions on which bus route to take nor where to catch it. Cllr. David Gardner* complained that the casual extra staff, employed at only two out of ten of the affected stations, were a waste of money as they knew little about bus routes. Cllr. Asli Mohammed* found buses on route 54 already full at her nearest stop: she had to leave home 20 minutes earlier and walk back to the beginning of that route to be sure of getting to her day job on time. Had the extra demand for bus routes been modelled beforehand and provided for? Was it being monitored?                                                              

Neil Roth

*FTL members