Olympia ghost bus rubbished
by Hammersmith and Fulham Press Office
27/01/2009
A 50 seater ‘ghost bus’, which carries virtually no passengers, has been rubbished by transport experts as a phenomenal waste of money.
The empty coach, which is not advertised but costs taxpayers around £500 per day to run, drives between Ealing Broadway and Wandsworth Road, via Kensington Olympia, every Tuesday.
Cross Country tabled two trains a day between Birmingham and Brighton via Kensington Olympia until December 14 but they now do not run beyond Reading.
Following the mothballing of the Birmingham to Brighton train, Arriva was commissioned to run the ‘ghost bus’ as Department for Transport (DfT) officials can claim that a service still operates and avoid the legal requirement to hold a public consultation on closing unused sections of track around Willesden Junction.
The DfT is using a loophole governing rail closures that allows ministers “to secure the provision of substitute bus services if a passenger rail service is temporarily interrupted or has been discontinued.”
Councillor Nicholas Botterill, Cabinet Member for Environment, says: “This is a costly and meaningless bus service which highlights the absurd nature of DfT red tape. If nobody is using this coach, why bother running it? Taxpayers should not be forced to fork our £500 a day to tick a box in Whitehall.”
Hammersmith & Fulham Council is working with neighbouring boroughs on the West London Line to lobby for train services to be restored at the earliest opportunity.
A DfT spokesman said: “We are continuing to monitor this line and are currently looking at the best way of meeting passenger demand which may result in more regular local rail services.”
