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WAITING FOR THE GHOST BUSDo crows fly from Stoke Newington Church Street to Highbury Corner? If they do, it’s a short distance of less than two miles. We human beings, not being blessed with wings, have to rely on other forms of transport to make the journey.
We know that Stoke Newington is the land that London Transport forgot — but London Buses (one of the successors to the previously unified LT) — have been thinking about introducing the 393 single-decker bus route for over two years. In the whole of Hackney about two dozen buses run north-south, only half a dozen east-west. Apparently, the new bus route is planned to start at Upper Clapton, proceed along Church Street to the junction with Green Lanes, probably (no-one seems to know) turn left to Newington Green, along St Paul’s Road to Highbury Corner, then up the Holloway Road where it would terminate.
Seeking clarification, we rang Roger Blake, Hackney’s helpful transport planner. He knew of the proposal, approved of it and said that there should be no problem as far as Hackney Council is concerned. The ball was firmly in the court of London Buses. John Barry is the Network Development Manager for London Buses. We hopped aboard to seek his views. Slowly pulling away, he confirmed that there was a route under consideration and it was provisionally numbered 393. When was this first proposed? A gentle touch on the brakes. Well, it has not yet been proposed in a ‘formal sense’. What does that mean? Er, while there was a ‘concrete desire’ on the part of London Buses to improve ‘orbital links’ such as the introduction of the 274 from Camden to lslington, formal proposals would have to be made to Hackney and lslington Councils.
Our conversation seemed to be held up in traffic. We tried ringing the bell loudly. Surely this is just bureaucratic delay. Hackney and lslington are not going to veto a proposal that will reduce car traffic and enable people to move about more freely, are they? John inched forward cautiously. ‘And then there are the feasibility tests,’ he said. OK, but when will they take place? ‘As soon as possible. But don’t say we’ve been sitting on this for two years.
Racing ahead now — we had to hold on tightly — he told us that they were almost at the ‘point of formal consultation’ with all concerned and there were no diversions due from the Greater London Authority, as the Mayor’s budget had been approved. Great, so when did he expect the 393 to be on the road? Brakes on again: as soon as possible after tendering,’ he replied. When would that be? ‘As soon as possible.’ The traffic lights ahead seemed to be stuck on amber. We jumped off. The 393 bus would be an essential link between Stoke Newington and Highbury Corner with its tube/rail interchange, It’s difficult to understand why London Buses have been so slow in its implementation. Public opinion could speed things up. Why not contact Customer Services, London Buses, 172 Buckingham Palace Road, SW1W 9TN (email: customerservices@tfl-buses.co.uk ) and tell them to get moving?
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There
are choices, all of them difficult. A car rat-run with nowhere to park at the other end, a
73 bus and a good march to Canonbury Station for the overground North London Line, walk
across Clissold Park to Manor House tube for the Piccadilly Line or a mini-cab costing a
fiver. There is no direct bus route between these two important centres of entertainment
and business.