Consultation launched into extending bus service from Balham to the Springfield Hospital site

Local residents are being urged to take part in a Transport for London consultation which could see a bus route being extended to the newly developed Springfield Hospital site in Tooting.

Bus chiefs at TfL are proposing to extend route 315 to improve transport links between Balham High Road and the hospital site.

The plans would see the revised service run from Balham Station to the hospital via Tooting Bec Station, Trinity Road, Glenburnie Road and Springfield Drive.

Clare Fraser, Wandsworth’s Cabinet Member for Transport, has welcomed the proposal and urged local people to take part in TfL’s consultation.

She said: “I welcome this proposal to extend the 315 service to Springfield, and hope that it will encourage more residents to make the switch to public transport away from cars.”

The consultation can be accessed online at Proposed extension of bus route 315. The consultation concludes on Sunday, April 16.

Expanding outer London bus services forms part of the Mayor’s plans to extend the Ultra Low Emission Zone later this year.

According to TfL “increased and improved bus services will help encourage more people to use public transport ahead of the ULEZ expansion in August this year and maximise the benefits of the scheme. These proposals, which will be followed by more enhancements across London, would improve TfL’s already extensive and attractive bus network in outer London.”

The consultation coincides with another extension to a local bus route which will come into effect later this month when the 485 service begins travelling through Putney’s Riverside Quarter.

People can take part in the consultation online or by emailing haveyoursay@tfl.gov.uk. Comments can also be submitted via telephone at (020) 3054 6037 (call back service) or in writing to ‘Freepost TfL Have Your Say’ (no stamp required).