Elizabeth Line’s arrival to see cuts to buses along Oxford Street

The arrival of the Elizabeth Line (nee, Crossrail) in a couple of years time will see more changes to central London — as buses services are to be cut.

In total, twenty-three different bus services could see changes over a five year period — if a consultation approves the plans.

The trigger for the changes is twofold — in part bus journeys within Zone 1 have declined along some routes as people switch to tube trains.

Bus route 73, which closely follows the route of the Victoria Line, has seen up to eleven per cent fewer customers this year compared to 2011 as customers choose the Tube and other forms of travel.

Conversely, bus journeys across the rest of London have risen.

The intention is to shift buses from the centre to support increased demand elsewhere.

This is possible thanks to the arrival of the Elizabeth Line in December 2018, which is expected to see more people expected to switch from buses to rail.

The headline change though will be to see a 40 per cent reduction in buses running along — or more usually crawling along — Oxford Street.

TfL’s proposals would see more bus routes starting and finishing at Park Lane, Trafalgar Square and Tottenham Court Road instead of going along Oxford Street.

In addition to fewer buses, some passengers will have to switch buses along the planned routes to complete journeys that are currently carried on a single bus.

Routes 3, 6, 8, 15, 22, 25, 23, 46, 73, 137, 172, 242, 332, 390, 425, 452, C2, N2, N3, N8, N15, N22 and N73 are all affected by the proposed changes.

However, buses are cheaper than trains for single journeys, so the changes could see some people having to pay more if they feel forced off the buses and onto the tube.

The public consultation is here, and closes at the end of January.