‘Betrayal’ of bus route closure

Transport for London have announced plans to scrap the RV1 bus service altogether. The environmentally-friendly, zero-emissions bus route connects Covent Garden, the London Eye, South Bank, Tate Modern, the Globe, Borough Market, Tower Bridge and the Tower of London.

TfL cut the service from six an hour to three in February, apparently due to recently declining numbers. However, opposition councillors and campaigners pointed out at the time that this coincided with temporary detours around London Bridge, and that reducing the service from every 10 minutes to every 20 would mean fewer people would rely and therefore use the service.

The latest proposals are to scrap it altogether were totally unexpected, but some now suspect that it was the plan all along.

The Liberal Democrat councillor for Borough & Bankside Victor Chamberlain, who led the campaign against the cuts to the RV1 said:

‘The Mayor of London made much of him being the son of a bus driver, yet here we see cuts to a much-loved bus service that services a rapidly growing part of inner London and is used by residents, workers and tourists alike.

‘Liberal Democrats believe the RV1 needs to be saved, not scrapped. This is a wrong move by the Mayor, and for all those who agree with us, we urge them to tell TfL and to sign the new petition to keep the RV1’.

The petition can be found at tinyurl.com/DontScrapRV1