TfL makes bus route changes
New service is also introduced to connect passengers to hospitals
CHANGES to a number of bus routes are taking place in west London including the introduction of a new service.
The new 483 bus route took to the roads on Saturday, connecting passengers between Harrow town centre and Ealing Hospital, in Southall, via Northwick Park Hospital on the Brent and Harrow border.
Transport for London (TfL) says the service will run every eight minutes during the day Monday to Saturday, every 10 minutes on Sunday and every 12 minutes in the evenings.
Its introduction will alleviate pressure on buses 182 (Brent Cross to Harrow Weald) and 83, the latter of which will operate a shorter service between Golders Green and Alperton station, not continuing on to Ealing Hospital.
However the night bus N83 will continue to serve between Golders Green and Ealing Hospital.
The new 483 service will also provide extra capacity between Alperton and Wembley Stadium and along route 182 between North Wembley and Harrow.
A spokesman for TfL said: “Because the existing route, which operates 24-hours a day, takes four hours to complete, it is difficult to maintain reliability for customers, especially when there is traffic congestion.
“However, the two shorter routes will be more manageable with the new route 83 service estimated to take 160 minutes and the new route 483 around 190 minutes.”
In addition, routes 182 and 183 (Pinner to Golders Green station) have also had their frequencies increased from a bus every 12 minutes to every 10 minutes during Sunday shopping hours and evenings.
TfL have also boosted the number of buses heading to Heathrow Airport to meet demand on a popular route, it announced on Wednesday September 7.
Bus number 140, which runs between Harrow Weald and Heathrow Airport, will run more frequent services, every six minutes (instead of seven) during the morning peak hours from Monday to Friday and every seven minutes (instead of seven-and-a-half) on weekday afternoons and during Saturday shopping hours.
The Sunday daytime and evening service will operate as normal every 10 minutes and the weekend early morning frequency every 12 minutes. The route is also set to become greener with the phased introduction of 29 larger hybrid buses, which will provide extra seats, from 80 to 87, as well as help reduce pollution on the 24-hour bus service.
The increased services on the route are supported by changes to other connecting routes including H9, H10, 182, 183 and the restructuring of route 83.
H9 and H10 have also had their frequencies increased from a bus every 20 minutes to every 15 minutes during Sunday shopping hours and in the evenings.