RV1 Bus Route Withdrawn

[Don Q Fan]

Received an email from TFL today to advise:-

anyone in London who might have used the cross river  RV1 service to/from Covent Garden this is being withdrawn from service shortly.  

 

Also amends to the 59 this will terminate at Euston now not Kings Cross.

[RuthE]

There are a number of other changes to routes in the Covent Garden area too - the one which will affect me personally being the fact that the 171, which goes past the end of my road, will terminate at Elephant & Castle, no longer serving Waterloo, Aldwych and Holborn.

 

Changes also to the 172 and 341 routes if anyone wants to investigate those further.

[Beryl H]

Thanks for the info, I wonder why the RV1 has been withdrawn, it was such a nice way to get from the South Bank to the ROH!

[RuthE]

I think the justification behind most of these route changes is that since the Hopper fare was introduced (meaning a journey can consist of more than one bus without paying a second fare), usage patterns have changed and the routes in question can be covered by other combinations of route.  For example, the 381 takes a similar (but not the same) route from Tower Bridge to Waterloo, and there are then other onward connections across the bridge.

 

Edited to add: and as nice as the RV1 route is/was - and I know it well, as I used to work on Southwark Bridge Road years ago and use it to get to the ROH - it was not the most direct of routes, nor the most reliable or regular.

Edited June 5, 2019 by RuthE

[Minder]

There are a great many bus changes in central London the weekend after next. I have some sympathy for the Mayor (not that I live in London) in that the large central Government grant was withdrawn - maybe it might not have happened with a Tory Mayor - the Mayor committed to a fares freeze, so he has little options but to juggle services. He was also banking on lots of extra money from Crossrail and that isnt happening for a while. I think in the case of the RV1 it was set up through partnerships redeveloping the south bank and eventually the money runs out.

Because TfL stopped proper maps, you could buy one of the independent little maps produced by a brilliant guy called Mike Harris costing £2 from a few outlets such as the LT museum shop or his Greater London Bus Map website - I gather a new edition about 15 June. - but get some good glasses to read it.

PS - route 4 wont go near Covent Garden/Aldwych either.

[alison]

Given that the 341 serves Sadler's Wells and places south to Waterloo, that could well be of interest to some, too.  Oh, and are they cutting off the end of the No. 19 route?  I know it was threatened.

[Minder]

The 19 isn't changing and all that is happening to the 341 is that it will go via Farringdon rather than Chancery Lane so probably useful for Sadlers Wells.