Kingston Council have responded to London Transport with the following Letter.  You can sign the petition mentioned online here, which will be sent to the petition coordinator - Councillor Ian McDonald.

London Transports Initial Letter:

This is a scanned image from a letter received from London Transport via Kingston Council - Included is a scanned map of the proposed changes to the K5 service.

Registered in England and Wales. Number 3914787 Registered Office 172 Buckingham Palace Road London SWIW 9TN

London Bus Services Limited 172 Buckingham Palace Road London SWlW9TN

London Buses proposes to revise five bus routes in southwest London when new operating contracts start later this year. The routes concerned are the 33, 267, 485, K5 and R69. The changes have been principally designed to provide an improved service between Mortlake and Richmond and to Kew, in response to requests from the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, and to better meet other travel requirements in the area.

Route R69 would be doubled in frequency during the daytime and would be introduced in the evenings and on Sundays. Between Richmond and Mortlake it would exchange routeings with route 485 in response to requests to improve services to the Kew area. Route 485 would be re-routed to maintain links between Sheen and Mortlake for shoppers and would be shortened to nm between Richmond and Kingston, Fairfield Bus Station. Route K5 would replace the 485 between Ham and Kingston, providing

a new cross-Kingston link. At its southern end, route K5 would be diverted at New Malden and run via Motspur Park to Raynes Park instead of North Che3Dl. The frequency of route 33 would b~ slightly reduced to take account of the larger vehicles that would be employed and also the enhanced frequency on route R69 over the Richmond to Hammersmith section. New low floor single deck buses would be introduced on route 33, while new low floor double deck buses would be introduced on route 267. The changes to each individual route are shown below.

ROUTE 33 (HAMMERSMITH BUS STATION - RICHMOND - FULWELL BUS GARAGE)

Brand new fully accessible, low floor, dual door, 50-capacity single deck buses would be introduced on this route, replacing the smaller buses currently in use. The route would continue to run between Fulwel1 and Hammersmith, with half the buses running between Richmond and Hammersmith only, reflecting the difference in passenger demand east and west of Richmond. The Monday to Saturday daytime frequencies on both the Fulwel1 - Hammersmith and Richmond - Hammersmith sections would be reduced from every 12 minutes to every 15 minutes. This would enable the route to match the enhanced frequencies on route R69 (see below), and give a 7/8 minute service between Richmond and Hammersmith on route 33 itself. There would be no change to frequencies at oilier times, with buses every 15 minutes during ilie daytime on Sundays and every 20 minutes in the evenings and early weekend mornings.

ROUTE 267 (HAMMERSMITH, HAMMERSMITH GROVE - BRENTFORD - FULWELL BUS GARAGE daily- HAMPTON COURT summer Sundays)

This route would retain its current service structure and frequencies, but a new timetable would be introduced which would include measures to improve reliability. New fully accessible low floor double deck buses would also be introduced on the route. In future, as part of the new contract, this route would run on Boxing Days to assist people traveling to and from West Middlesex Hospital.

ROUTE 485 (RICHMOND BUS STATION - KINGSTON - HAM)

 It is proposed to shorten this route to run between Richmond and Kingston, Fairfield Bus Station. Route K5 (see below) would replace route 485 between Kingston and Ham, but at a higher frequency. It is also proposed to exchange the current 485 routeing between Richmond and Mortlake with that of route R69 (see below). From Richmond, buses would therefore be diverted away from Kew to run instead via the more direct routeing of Sheen Road, Upper Richmond Road and Sheen Lane, before returning to Mortlake High Street. This would maintain the link for shoppers between Sheen and Mortlake currently provided by route R69. There would be no change to the frequency of route 485, which receives sponsorship from the local authorities, and runs every 90 minutes between 0900 and 1800 on Mondays to Saturdays, with a two-hour gap at lunchtime.

ROUTE K5 (KINGSTON- NORTH CHEAM)

Route K5 currently operates at hourly intervals on Mondays to Saturdays (evenings excepted) between Kingston, Fairfield Bus Station and North Cheam, Queen Victoria. As a replacement for route 485, it is proposed to extend the K5 from Kingston to Ham via the 485 routeing. Not only would this provide 3 more frequent service along the roads concerned, it would also provide a new cross-town link for Kingston. At its southern end, in response to requests for more direct links to be provided to Motspur Park, it is proposed to discontinue the current circuitous routing between New Malden and North Cheam, much of which is covered by other bus services. Instead, buses would be diverted from the present route at New Malden, South Lane and run to Raynes Park via Nelson Road, Westbury Road, Rodney Road, Kingston Road, New Malden 'Fountain Roundabout', Malden Road, Motspur Park, West Barnes Lane and Coombe Lane. This effectively reverses the direction of the bus service for anyone traveling between Motspur Park and New Malden, but gives a more direct connection. The Nelson Road/Rodney Road routeing has been chosen so that the buses might continue to serve the shopping centre at New Malden, and also to meet the needs of elderly people in the area. As a result of these changes. Bodley Road in New Malden and Manor Drive in Old Malden would no longer be directly served by buses, but remain within walking distance of other services. The existing 40-capacity single deck buses would continue to be used on route K5 for the present. No changes are proposed to the current frequencies or times of operation.

ROUTE R69 (HAMMERSMITH BUS STATION- RICHMOND BUS STATION)

This route would be substantially enhanced in frequency and introduced in the early mornings, evenings and all day Sundays. Between Richmond and Mortlake it would be re-routed over the existing 485 route, in response to requests to provide a more frequent service to the Kew area. From Richmond, it would run via Lower Mortlake Road, Sandycombe Road, High Park Road, Mortlake Road, Lower Richmond Road to Mortlake High Street and then the existing routeing to Hammersmith. At Kew Gardens Station, northbound buses would not run via Station Approach and Station Parade, as this routeing cannot be used by low floor buses in the future. The use of Sandycombe Road and High Park Road would be subject to appropriate parking restrictions being introduced to allow the smooth operation of this more frequent service when compared with route 485. Route R69 would run every 15 minutes (half-hourly evenings, early Saturday mornings and all day Sundays). For the time being, the existing single deck buses would be used, but they would be fitted wid1 continuous regenerating traps to reduce harmful emissions. In due course, low floor buses would be introduced on the route, but this would be dependent upon major modifications being carried out to traffic calming measures in the Barnes area by the local authority, to allow such vehicles safe access in future.

Subject to the outcome of consultation initiated by this document, it is proposed to introduce these changes from Saturday 11 November 2000. Comments about this proposal should be sent to the Consultation Manager at the address shown above, to be received by no later than Friday 11 August 2000.

Date 24 August 2000

My Ref:- RST/SMG/74/8/1

Your Ref:-

Dear Mr Davies,

Thank you for your letter of 29^th June 2000 enclosing the above Service Proposal detailing changes to routes 485 and K5.

May I first say that these proposals came as a surprise as there had been no prior discussion with this Council regarding further changes to these routes.

As you are aware, Kingston Council is one of the sponsors of the 485 and I would have anticipated a discussion with London Buses prior to LB going public with your Service Proposal. However, I welcome the proposed increase in frequency and hours of operation of the Ham – Kingston Hospital section of this route when it is incorporated into route K5.

With regard to the routing of the K5 in New Malden, this matter has been under discussion since London Transport Buses’ Service Proposal LT99/040 of December last year. It was agreed that the Bodley Road route would be maintained for an experimental period of six months while further evaluation was carried out. It was also agreed that a further meeting would be held between LT and RBK at the end of this evaluation period. You are aware of the strength of feeling from users along both the Bodley Road and Nelson Road/Rodney Road options. My personal preference, without any firm data, would be to keep the existing, Bodley Road, route where there is established use rather than the "gamble" of a new route via Nelson and Rodney Roads.

In Malden Manor, the withdrawal of this section of route K5 will not only mean the loss of a bus service along The Manor Drive but the loss of a direct link to Kingston Hospital for a large area of the Borough. I understand that you have received a petition from this area asking for a service to be retained. It has been suggested that route K9 or K10 could be diverted to cover this part of the K5 as the service was originally part of the K9.

With regard to the final destination of the route, it was originally proposed that route K5 was to be extended to Morden Station. I assume that this has now been dropped in favour of a Raynes Park terminus. The new links created by this route, from New Malden, Malden Manor and Motspur Park to Raynes Park, are already covered by more frequent bus and rail services.

I hope that there will be opportunity for a meaningful discussion between London Buses and this Council (and other interested parties) before a final decision is made on the future of these routes.