Camden New Journal - News: Route of 393 bus is a ‘death trap’ claim protesters

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Camden New Journal - JAMIE WELHAM
Published: 8 November 2007

Route of 393 bus is a ‘death trap’ claim protesters

CAMPAIGNERS who lost out in their bid to stop a controversial bus route running through their street are imploring transport chiefs to reconsider because they say it is a “death trap”.
Residents of Leighton Road, Kentish Town are meeting the Mayor and Transport for London at the Town Hall tonight (Thursday) to protest against the rerouted 393 bus which runs between Clapton and Chalk Farm.
They say that since the bus started its trial in July, their street has been turned into a “congestion nightmare” with drivers taking their lives into their own hands by passing buses on the wrong side of the road.
Nik Berg captured the chaos with his photo that shows police tending to a bus that got stuck trying to turn out of the narrow road. He said: “The bus was stuck for about half an hour because it couldn’t negotiate the corner. It’s obvious the road is too narrow for this route and it should have never have been given the go ahead. It’s farcical to put buses down a road where there have been so many traffic calming measures because these just become obstacles.”
At the meeting, residents will ask for the bus to be rerouted along Agar Grove, which they say is more suitable for the 170 buses a day that use the route.
Sue Prickett, chairwoman of the Leighton Road Neighbourhood Association, is leading the campaign against the route. She said: “TfL should be hung, drawn and quartered for this decision. Over 500 people told them it wouldn’t work and we were right. They pretended they listened to our concerns but they didn’t. We’ve got cars dodging buses, crossing around traffic islands and driving into oncoming traffic and on two occasions police have had to help out buses that have become stuck. Further, we have done a survey to show that nobody even uses the route. Most of the buses are completely empty.”
A TfL spokesperson said: “Much of the feedback from members of the public following the extension of route 393 has been very positive. Since the extension of the route 393 in July there have been approximately 2,000 extra passenger trips per weekday. There are no significant operational issues. Drivers have reported only a very small number of problems caused by inconsiderate parking. We carry out route tests before introducing buses to a new route, to ensure the roads are suitable for buses.”

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