England play Malta tonight at Wembley Stadium so once again the 206 bus that runs between Kilburn Park and The Paddocks in Wembley Park will be curtailed at Bridge Park:
Kick-Off isn't until 7.45pm but the bus stops running at 2.45pm affecting secondary school pupils travelling towards Harlesden.
Stops affected:
Residents have been trying to get the Council to do something about this for decades and the need is now greater because of the increased number of events at the stadium. A local residents submitted a question to Krupa Sheth to try to pin down when the promised introduction of full working on event days will be implented:
Question from Peggy Wylie to
Councillor Krupa Sheth (Cabinet Member for Environment, Infrastructure
& Climate Action)
The 206 bus route is for
many living in the Kings Drive, The Paddocks, Salmon Street area a real
necessity. However, when there is an event scheduled at Wembley Stadium no 206
service is provided to the area after 11.00/noon (or even earlier) because the service
is curtailed at Brent Park.
The suspension of this
service to the Wembley Park, Kings Drive, The Paddocks and Salmon Street area
disproportionately affects our most vulnerable residents - the elderly, disabled,
parents with small children and women travelling home alone at night. It also
affects people needing to travel from this area to reach their place of employment and in
particular those that work for Tesco, IKEA.
Brent's local plan for our
area proposed the opening of North End Road to allow traffic to and from Bridge
Road, Wembley Park, which would enable the 206 to serve our area on event
days. The changes to the road layout have been completed and yet we are
still deprived of our bus on event days.
As a result, can the Cabinet
Member for Environment, Infrastructure & Climate Action advise if the
combined forces of the London Borough of Brent, Transport for London ("Every
journey matters!") and Wembley Stadium Limited will listen and take note of residents'
needs and finally commit to seeking an urgent and permanent solution allowing
the 206 bus to run its full route to the Paddocks on Wembley Stadium event days?
Response:
Transport for London (TfL)
are responsible for the provision of bus services in London and consult on route
changes and frequencies to improve services and efficiency.
Brent liaises with TfL on
the bus services provided in the borough and requests improvements to satisfy the
needs of residents and businesses. Brent also liaises with TfL buses for Wembley
Stadium events where it is necessary to curtail / divert services for
security. However, the council is committed to implementing infrastructure improvements
identified under the Wembley Area Action plan and
recently completed the North
End Road connection and Wembley 2 Way working projects which will enable
bus services to be provided via this route on stadium event days in the future.
TfL carried out a
consultation earlier this year on proposed changes to bus routes 92, 206 and 440 through the
Wembley Park area with a view to simplifying the bus network following the
introduction of two-way working arrangements in the area and which would allow
for services to continue to serve the area on event days. The plan below
outlines the proposals for all three services.
Following the consultation
and following subsequent route tests, TfL has advised that the proposed changes to
routes 92 and 440 will now go ahead, but a revised change to route 206 is to be
implemented. This is due to the need for further works to signalise the
junction at Bridge Road/North End Road (which is planned) control parking, and to
strengthen a culvert. The latter is now required in order to support the intention to
introduce electric buses on the 206 route. As such, and for the immediate future at
least, route 206 will continue to serve Fulton Road and Rutherford road (see
plan below). It is intended that all these changes will be introduced during 2024.
The Council will continue to
work with TfL to deliver improvements to bus services through the area on
stadium event days and throughout the borough.
Editor's Note:
On event days I often find people at The Paddocks bus stop vainly waiting for a 206 bus. At the weekend this is often after they have been walking in Fryent Country Park. They have sometimes waited for an hour. Public tramsport acess to the Park should be enouraged.
At Brent Park you find confused passengers told to disembark, milling around trying to find an alternative route home. Often quite young school pupils are stranded.