After pressure from Theresa Villiers, MP for Chipping Barnet, TfL have backtracked on plans to cut back bus services vital for children attending JCoSS school in East Barnet.
Earlier this year, TfL announced plans to reduce the frequency of the 384 bus which serves much of the Chipping Barnet constituency.
This caused serious concern at JCoSS Jewish Community Secondary School where many students take the 384 bus every day. Teachers were worried that the reduced service could not cope with the numbers wanting to use the bus at the start and end of the school day. The school found it difficult to find someone at TfL who would listen to their concerns and the service reductions went ahead in July. The headteacher, Patrick Moriarty, approached Theresa Villiers for help.
Working with the headteacher and school governors, Ms Villiers lobbied TfL to restore services. TfL recently agreed to do this and two additional services have now been reintroduced.
Theresa Villiers said “I very much welcome TfL’s decision to restore key services on the 384 bus route at the start and end of the school day at JCoSS. The 384 route is used by many students and the reductions in service caused significant problems. It is important that we encourage public transport use for school journeys. In bringing back these services, TfL has done the right thing because it would be disruptive for local residents if parents were encouraged to drop off and pick up their children by car instead of letting them take the bus.”
“It is also the case that long queues of children at the bus stop could give rise to security concerns. In the past, anti-Semitic incidents have been reported at bus stops in Barnet and I welcome the commitment TfL have given me that they will work with the police and JCoSS to help keep students safe.”