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Road is too narrow for the 393 bus
• BRIAN Fowler, like many others, has been misled by Transport for London (I like the 393, August 23).
Residents of Leighton Road are not opposed to the 393 bus route extension from Holloway along North Road and they and Camden Council have supported this extension.
However, Leighton Road is unsuitable and too narrow for a bus route and the extension was requested on their road by residents on Agar Grove and Maiden Lane. If Transport for London had not ignored our councillors and accepted the alternative route, Brian Fowler could have travelled north to Holloway and South from North Road to Kentish Town High Road and on to Chalk Farm on a quicker route avoiding the congested Kentish Town High Road.
The Mayor of London will decide next month whether to accept local opinion and their representatives’ views or merely accept Transport for London’s determination to override local opinion.
A public meeting this year was attended by up to 100 people the majority of whom supported the route via Agar Grove where the bus was wanted and opposed the route along Leighton Road and Castle Road.
JOHN WOODCOCK
Leighton Road, NW5
Best route
• WE'RE glad that Brian Fowler likes the 393 bus going down his way and have no wish to change its route along North Road in Islington where he lives. But we don’t think that our road is suitable for the bus and it’s this that we’re trying to change.
We’d like the bus to continue to serve the people of North Road, enabling them to get to and from the shops and transport of the Holloway Road easily, for instance.
But from North Road westwards we think the best route would be via Agar Grove to Camden Town, then up to Kentish Town West (rejoining its present route) and along to Chalk Farm Morrisons.
This would not only avoid Leighton Road, it would also give the residents of Camden’s Maiden Lane estate an extra bus route which they badly need and enable children from the estate to reach Haverstock School safely and easily.
Brian Fowler states that there are quite a lot of people using the 393. That’s not the case along the Leighton Road stretch of the route and already we’re seeing instances of buses having to drive on the wrong side of our traffic islands.
We don’t want the 393 stopped, we just want it partially rerouted along wider roads where people actually need it.
SUE PRICKETT
Chair(and non-car driver) Leighton Road Neighbourhood Association NW5
So costly
• BRIAN Fowler’s letter (Letters, August 23) left me wondering if he means the 393 because he states that quite a lot of people are using it.
Of the 170 or so 393 buses that come down Leighton Road, none has more than eight people on it, and the vast majority are empty or have two or three people on board.
Nice, you might think, to have such luxury until you tot up the cost.
The taxpayer contributes about £428 million a year to Transport for London.
Perhaps Mr Fowler pays no tax but he is still going to reap the effects of such inefficiency, either because Transport for London will eventually fail altogether or more indirectly because people who take the bus rather than walk (where they can) will need more NHS treatment.
Surely it is to all our advantage to have traffic flowing easily .
JENNY WRIGHT
Leighton Road, NW5
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