London bus miles cut by 22 million in six years

The capital has seen cuts of 22 million bus miles since 2017

The number of miles covered by bus services in London was cut by 22 million between 2017 and 2023, new figures have shown.

Statistics shared by the Department for Transport (DfT) showed the number of bus miles fell from a peak of 304 million in 2017 to 282 million miles (453.8 million km) last year.

Sarah Olney, Liberal Democrat MP for Richmond Park, said the decline showed London Mayor Sadiq Khan "doesn’t care about outer London".

The mayor's office blamed the cuts on "punitive funding conditions from central government", but the DfT said those claims were "wrong", adding it had provided £6.6bn of funding to Transport for London (TfL) since 2020.

The data, from the DfT's Annual Bus Statistics report, revealed a drop of 10 million miles (16 million km) covered by buses in the capital between 2022 and 2023.

It showed since 2017, 1,403 buses were taken out of operation, reducing the TfL fleet from 10,191 to 8,788, a reduction of almost 14%.

Ms Olney said: “These figures are yet more evidence that the mayor doesn’t care about outer London and is only worried about his bottom line."

She also laid blame with the Conservative government for turning "our trains and buses into a political football".

'Transforming travel'

The Lib Dems said the cuts were particularly harmful to outer London communities who were more reliant on bus services.

A spokeswoman for Mr Khan said he had "done everything in his power" to protect bus services from central government funding cuts.

She highlighted TfL's superloop network, which aimed to better connect the outer boroughs, as well as "transforming travel".

“Government cuts and the requirements of the recent short-term funding deal meant that some bus routes were cut in recent years," she added.

"Despite this, Sadiq stepped in and provided an additional £25m every year to save the majority of bus routes that were proposed to be cut in central and inner London in 2022."

A DfT statement said: “These claims are wrong.

"The government has provided more than £6.6bn of support to TfL since 2020, with a funding settlement that is sufficient to maintain services and invest in the future of the network.

“Transport in London is devolved meaning it is for the mayor to deliver services in the capital and explain how his decisions are funded.”