24-hour bus scheme fury (From Richmond and Twickenham Times)

24-hour bus scheme fury

8:15am Wednesday 24th October 2007 in Richmond News By Chris Wickham

Transport for London has defended a decision to run a bus through the centre of Hampton village 24-hours a day, despite the protests of the area's MP.

Vincent Cable, MP for Twickenham, said there was ill feeling in Hampton over the decision to run an all-night 111 bus, which covers a route from Kingston to Heathrow Airport via Hampton, Hanworth and Hounslow, and has accused TfL of disregarded demands from Teddington residents for a more regular service than the hourly 481 to Kingston.

He has accused the body responsible for the capital's transport system of being arrogant and out of touch and said residents believe the 481 service, the only bus which runs to Kingston through Sandy Lane, is hopeless "There is strong feeling in both areas," said Dr Cable. "Yet there is now a new proposal to extend the 111 to an all-night service, starting in November.

A TfL spokesperson said: "Kingston and Richmond councils both identified Hounslow as being a key destination for night services, we expect the new night service on route 111 to be very popular.

"Route 481 has proved popular since its introduction in 2005, and we continue to monitor services on the route, if passenger numbers continue to rise, we may be able to increase the frequency of service in the future."