The 347 bus will no longer run from January 18, after a TfL review found it was “one of the least used bus routes”.
TfL originally proposed to withdraw the route – which connects Romford station and Ockendon station – in 2023, but kept it “under review” following a public consultation in January 2023.
It has now confirmed the 347 will be scrapped in line with its original plans – in a decision Hornchurch and Upminster MP Julia Lopez called “incredibly disappointing”.
Ms Lopez said: “It did not need to be this way.
“When the mayor originally consulted on changes to the former 346, 347 and 497 routes it was possible to preserve this route while merging the 497 route with the former 346, which would have provided the Harold Wood to Upminster link the mayor sought without severing residents in the Cathedral Estate and Clay Tye Road from London’s bus services.”
The decision has also been criticised by Havering Council leader Ray Morgon, who said in a statement: “The 347 route may have lower usage than central London buses, but to the people that use that route to travel between Romford and Ockendon each day, it is another important connection that is being unfairly taken away.
“This part of the borough already suffered from the expansion of ULEZ, forcing residents and commuters to ditch their cars in favour of public transport – and now those transport options are dwindling.
“What are our residents supposed to do?
“Perhaps instead of wasting funds on an ultimately unnecessary rebrand of the London Overground, which saw the Havering segments of the service renamed the Liberty line, TfL could invest in Havering and outer London boroughs and give us the transport infrastructure we desperately need.”
TfL said that the bus route will “be largely replaced” with the 346, with the 370 route also covering part of the 347 service.
It added that Ockendon station and Clay Tye Road will continue to be served by non-TfL route 269, while passengers on the Cathedral Estate in Upminster can use the 248 or 346.
READ MORE: Romford, Harold Wood and Upminster 347 bus route axe opposed
Geoff Hobbs, director of public transport service planning at TfL, said: ”Following a public consultation last year and careful consideration of the feedback received, we decided to keep route 347 under review.
“After further analysis, as one of the least used bus routes, route 347 will now be withdrawn from service.
“We have sought to reduce the impact of this change on passengers as much as possible to reflect current customer demand and we will continue to review any changes to bus routes.”
In an update on its consultation page, TfL also recognised that scrapping the route “may negatively impact some people with disability, age and other accessibility needs exacerbating that impact”.
Ms Lopez said she will work with Havering Council to see if they can make funding applications to TfL “to support improvements to the accessibility” of the alternative bus stops in Front Lane, Upminster.
