A campaign for better connectivity between West Dulwich, Dulwich Village and Herne Hill.
We need change
The problem now
The P4 is the only bus serving Dulwich Village and it is the fourth worst bus service in Southwark.
You can’t go from West Dulwich to Dulwich Village by public transport.
The Dulwich area has several train stations, but no service linking the neighbourhoods with each other. Similarly, there is no single bus service linking the neighbourhoods.
There is no step free access at West Dulwich and North Dulwich Stations.
Who are affected?
Residents, but particularly those who are elderly, are wheelchair users, have a disability and young families with buggies. In Dulwich 39% of residents are families with young children, 15% are over 65 and 11% have a disability.
Businesses and shops: footfall is down for the Dulwich Village businesses and there are currently 5 empty shops. The Dulwich Estate wants Dulwich Village to be “a destination”, but car parking is restricted and access by public transport is very limited.
Schools: we have approximately 15,000 school children being educated in Dulwich each school day. Private coach services bring pupils from all across London but parking for the coaches during the school day is a problem.
Sports Clubs: there are several in Dulwich attracting adults and children from the wider area.
Dulwich Picture Gallery and Bell House both rely on visitors coming from outside the Dulwich area.
Parks, particularly Dulwich Park where there is no free parking.
TfL are aware of this, as in their own studies, they rate Dulwich Village's PTAL (Public Transport Accessibility Level) as Poor to Very Poor (scores of 1 and 2).
Possible solutions:
Improve the quality of the service of the P4.
Create a new bus route from Herne Hill to Dulwich Village, West Dulwich and beyond.
Re-route an existing service.
Improve accessibility and provide reliable local public transport alternatives in Dulwich and beyond.
1. Why does the P4 need improving?
The P4 is the only local bus serving the centre of Dulwich Village.The P4 is a very poor service: it’s the fourth most delayed bus in Southwark and the fourth worst for long delays of 10-20 minutes.This past year the P4 has failed to meet TfL’s own minimum standards for delays 70% of the time. It has worsened over the last year. In a recent Reddit survey attracting over 400 comments, the P4 was voted the Worst bus in London.Yet the P4 bus is the only link Dulwich residents have to a station with a lift: Brixton underground station which is not local.Users can wait 15-20 minutes for the P4 bus. It then takes 20-25 minutes to take them to Brixton. That is 35-40 minutes just to reach a step free access underground station.
2. Proposal for a new bus route
We started our campaign with a proposal to re-route the 201, an idea that was put forward several years ago, but never came to fruition. Then we heard that residents in Croxted and Turney Roads feel strongly that they would like to retain the 201. We met with their representatives, and as our goal is to improve bus services and not to diminish them, we are now also proposing to TfL an entirely new bus route.This single decker bus would start at Herne Hill and travel down Half Moon Lane, turn right at North Dulwich Railway Station proceed through the Village along College Road, turn right along the South Circular and, after West Dulwich station turn LEFT and continue down the South Croxted Road following the no.3 route via Gipsy Hill to Crystal Palace bus station. From there it would either continue to Anerley and Elmers End OR go along Church Road and turn left at the junction to terminate at Norwood Junction station.
Benefits
This would connect West Dulwich and Dulwich Village to Herne Hill station (which has lifts) and would make a big difference as it is the closest step free access station to Dulwich. In the other direction, Crystal Palace station has step free access.
No new bus stops need to be created as the ones already used by the P4, no.37 and no.3 can be used for this service.
Crystal Palace station also has lifts giving step free access and is an interchange station for the Overground.
This bus would provide a backup service to the no. 3 bus which is frequently delayed.
The bus would serve some of the 15,000 school children being educated here, and the many school employees travelling to the Dulwich area.
3. Re-routing an existing service
The only service that could be re-routed is the 201.We have received feedback from residents on Croxted Road and surrounding streets that the 201 is a service valued by them and one which they would not want to lose.It serves a different route from the no. 3, connecting them to Streatham High Street and beyond. It is used by children for school journeys and social engagements, and by elderly residents to visit families. It also acts as a buffer for shorter journeys during peak hours when the no. 3, which is frequently full, has no space for passengers with buggies and/or wheelchair users.
Supporters
Dulwich Picture Gallery
Friends of Dulwich Park
Dulwich Village Traders Association
West Dulwich Action Group
Norwood Forum
Dulwich Village Residents' Association
Burbage Road Residents' Association
Station to Station - West Norwood & Tulse Hill BID
Who we are
This is a grassroots, non party-political initiative. We are a small group of four local residents who seek to improve public transport connections between Dulwich Village, West Dulwich and the wider South London area.You can reach us at [email protected].
Sign the petition
Do you support our campaign for a bus service which connects all the communities in the area within broader Dulwich, to cover Dulwich Village, Herne Hill, West Dulwich and East Dulwich?
We need your help to convince TfL!
Your data will not be shared with anyone and will not be shown publicly. We will only contact you if we have updates about this campaign.