TRANSPORT for London is “depriving bus users of a unique service”, a campaigner has claimed.

Daniel Morgan-Thomas, who lives in Snaresbrook, was unimpressed with the TfL and London Buses representatives who were grilled by Redbridge Council’s External Scrutiny Panel over cuts to the W12 service at a meeting on Wednesday, January 24.

The W12 was cut by a third, from three buses an hour to two, in December. 

Campaigners amassed more than 3,000 signatures calling for a return to three buses every 20 minutes and plan to present the petitions to TfL soon.

Mr Morgan-Thomas, who attended the meeting, said the two representatives could not say whether notices had been put on W12 buses and bus stops before the service cut.

The 24-year-old said: “They apologised for the poor communication in a lacklustre way. The TFL rep did not apologise for the lack of consultation and kept falling back on the fact that they didn’t have a legal obligation to do so.

“People at the meeting were quite indignant about that. No one accepted that apology and they didn’t come there saying they would like to apologise they only did it because they in a room full of people.

“The scrutiny panel was taken aback by TFL’s lack of foresight. No one from TFL had approached the council or residents separately. 

“The only thing TFL did before the change was send an email the day before the cut.”

Mr Morgan Thomas, a Labour candidate who will stand in the Wanstead Village ward in May’s local elections, said the service cut sets a worrying precedent.

The Labour candidate said: “It’s a slippery slope. People need it. The point is how will the elderly and disabled people reach their appointments on time? The drivers are highly regarded and there is a community feel to the service.

“To look just at the numbers is reductive, a nonsense that doesn’t see the people using the service.

“People use it as patients and that’s not the same. We are being deprived of a unique service. People do sit on the bus for a long time because they need to get to Whipps Cross.”

Mr Morgan-Thomas said the effect of roadworks on service demand was not addressed.

He said: “They did not answer questions about the impact of roadworks. From 2016 to 2017 they said the number of service users fell by 100,000 but what they wouldn’t account for is the effect of roadworks in Walthamstow on numbers. They didn’t want to address those things.”

Claire Mann, director of bus operations said: “We are constantly reviewing our bus network to ensure we provide the best possible service.

"We have changed the frequency of the W12 bus route between Walthamstow and Wanstead to meet passenger demand, which has fallen recently along this route.

"We understand the concerns raised locally and will continue to keep this under review.”