Transport

The quality of life in Loughton is deeply affected by local transport problems, especially the Central Line and local bus services. Our network of members and Councillors enables us to monitor services, consult with residents and report back to user groups, local authorities and our members.

Transport for London draft accessibility action plan
Residents are being asked what they think about plans to make public transport in the Capital more accessible in the future, and what projects they would prioritise in the Mayor's Accessibility Implementation Plan. The consultation runs until end-October, and a final report is due to be published in December.

• consultation
• integrated impact assessment, which includes an equalities impact assessment of the policies and proposals contained in the Mayor’s Transport Strategy.
  

Major developments
LRA monitors the transport implications of developments, such as the High Road Marks & Spencers and Stansted Airport, for their potential impact on Loughton. LRA has long experience in judging the transport impact of developments. We are currently predicting that, should the government's plans for massive housing developments in the M11 corridor get the go-ahead, our local transport system will be unable to cope with the extra load. (See Regional plan objections)

Central Line
Because of local unrest, LRA organised a public meeting where the General Manager of the Central Line revealed these improvements: increased number of off-peak trains; last trains possibly later and integrated across the network; major investment, enabling long-term planning; improved preventive maintenance; a rolling programme for modernisation of stations (although Loughton Station will not be modernised for another four years).

The District Council Conservatives have decided not to approach Transport for London to try to negotiate some form of travel concession on the Central Line (LRA councillors suggested that a charged-for card giving off peak travel in zones 2-6 should be considered.)

Incidents in Station Approach – contact the British Transport Police 0800 40 50 40 (or 999 for emergencies).

Staff presence: There was concern in May 2010 about proposals to close ticket-offices at Loughton and Debden stations. We took this up with Transport for London (TfL), who replied that they are proposing to reduce some of their ticket office opening hours because customer usage of the ticket offices has significantly declined, following the success of the Oyster card - only one in 20 journeys now starts with a visit to the ticket office. However, they will still have staff on all stations at all times, in visible areas where they can provide support and assistance to customers.

Buses
Some bus routes are provided by Essex County Council (up to an average subsidy of £5 per person per trip). There are some commercial services, and some are provided by Transport for London as cross-border routes. LRA carefully monitors proposals to change local bus services and makes objections and suggestions where appropriate. We also investigate and take up complaints. We have successfully improved and preserved some local services - for instance, in the planning of the 541 route in 2007, which as a result of our efforts now provides an evening service to Newmans Lane for the first time. A current priority is to deal with the lack of evening buses on Route 397.

H1 hospital bus
LRA helped initiate the H1 bus service between Loughton, Epping and Harlow. This was a direct outcome of lobbying by LRA and other Town Councillors, concerned about the difficulty residents experienced in getting to hospital appointments.
It has now been replaced by

• Service 55, which operates on a commercial basis Monday to Fridays by “Travel with Hunny” serving Harlow-Loughton-Harlow via Ivy Chimneys and Theydon Bois
• a Saturday service, funded by Essex County Council, which operates as the previous H1 Saturday route and timetable. It is numbered service H1 and is operated by Regal Busways
• in addition, SM Coaches have revised their commercial service SM19 and this now operates a Monday to Saturday service between Ongar and Harlow.

LRA County Cllr Chris Pond presented a petition at the Full County Council meeting in October 2010, asking the council to continue the direct Loughton-Epping bus route H1, and to engage in discussions with commercial bus operators to reintroduce the Monday-Friday service lost earlier this year. The petition was drawn up, and signatures collected, by Shannon Toms, a 15 yr old Roding Valley High School pupil.

Bus routes 20 and 167
These have finally reverted to their old route at the Broadway. Seemingly only a little thing, this has taken LRA Cllr Chris Pond two years of hard slog and several hundred emails and phone calls.

Bus passes
You can save a great deal of money (in Loughton and further afield) with a bus pass.

Rail and tube travel
You can save a lot more money by buying an Oystercard.  Senior citizens can also obtain a Senior Railcard and link the two together.
To find out how, see Over 60 travel facilities.

Oyster cards can now be used to pay as you go on rail services across Greater London, with a few exceptions, as well as for travel on bus, Tube, tram and DLR services.  Holders of senior railcards can get a discount on underground travel by registering their railcard on their oyster card at any tube station ticket office. http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tickets/oysteronline/5823.aspx

Planning your journey
Bus times and routes: for information on planning your journey by bus, coach or train contact traveline, 0871 200 2233 (calls cost 10p per minute plus network extras) or www.traveline.info