Davidl,
If you can send me (by PM) more details of this situation or anything similar I will certainly pass it as feedback to the bus companies. The next meeting of this kind is not until 10th June as they only take place quarterly.

The night bus route is an interesting complicating factor I don't think going up to Brockley Rise and then on to Crystal Palace would make much sense. I have a suspicion that a night bus that went to Honor Oak Park would be more useful to most people in SE23 than the terminus as Crystal Palace (although I suspect Crystal Palace has better facilities for a night bus terminus).

I think that it would be great if the 63 could be extended through Honor Oak. However, I expect that the response to Brockley Rise as a proposed terminus will be that there is insufficient room given that the 172 and P12 already terminate there, especially since there are so many 63 buses (every 5 mins at rush hour).

An alternative terminus could actually be Bell Green, via Honor Oak, Brockley Rise, Stanstead Road, Waldrum Park Road, Perry Vale and Perry Rise. This would have the added benefit of improving bus services on the east side of FH too.

Dunno about the N63 though!

Thanks Micheal - It would be great if you could raise this. When is the next meeting scheduled for? I think it would really benefit a lot of people to have this route extended over the hill. As you said it would link the 63 with other bus routes and would mean that we would have a more direct route to Peckham Rye's train links instead of the P12 which goes round the houses, also I think this would be a quicker bus to get up to Elephant and Castle and onto Farringdon and Kings Cross. Someone has also mentioned extending it even further to Bell Green via Cranston Road etc and this might be a good option too. The Sainsburys there is widely used by many people in the area.

I don't think Cranston Road would be a viable option as it is not currently a bus route and I am not sure if residents of Perry Rise would want more buses (double deckers rather than singles) going down their road, but I would have to agree that more buses going from Forest Hill to Bell Green would be very handy.

However, if the 63 needs to turn round then the extra mile to Brockley Rise and back makes perfect sense rather than turning round at Wood Vale.

Other ideas for improvements to bus routes and service would be most welcome. The next meeting of the transport liaison committee is in June, with the agenda set in May, so although it is still a little time away, it will give us a chance to find some good solutions.

Thanks Michael, that's very much appreciated.

Maybe the night bus could do a loop by coming over the hill to Honor Oak Park, turn right down brockley rise, right onto the south circ through Forest Hill and then left by the Hornimans to go up to Crystal Palace. But I guess this would mean that Wood Vale would not have the nightbus service along the full length then (but the bus would still stop at each end more or less) Is just an idea...

Suggest you ask Boris.

hang on a minute! spare a thought for us that live on these roads. Its bad enough with the Clarkes Coaches coming down Perry Vale all day and night, we dont need a double decker bus every 5 minutes too.

Maybe the solution is to have alternate buses coming over the hill in rush hour, they could just turn round at Brockley Rise and maybe terminate / start the route at Honor Oak Station. At least this would serve us over the hill.

Transport Liasion committee was this evening and I raised the issue of the 63 extension to Honor Oak.

First the history; there was a weight restriction on the bridge at Honor Oak Park. Lewisham transport officer believes that this is not longer the case, so it is possible for double-deckers to along this route.

Now the good news; the 63 route is currently under review and there will be a consultation shortly. This is an excellent opportunity to extend the service and I shall be writing to TfL buses to fully argue the case. When the public consultation happens it would be helpful if others from this forum who have suggested and backed this proposal would respond to the consultation when it happens.

This is great news Micheal, I will definately be happy to support a change in the 63 route so it covers us at Honor Oak Park. I will watch and wait for the consultation, thanks for bringing this up at your meeting.

Although I would personally appreciate the 63's coming over the hill, do you think people living on Forest Hill Road and Honor Oak Park might not be totally happy about double deckers thundering past their homes? I should add I do not live on either of those roads.

I would certainly be in favour of it since I have to walk from Devonshire Road to the cemetary to pick up the 63 to go to work in the morning. Its also a steep walk back up the hill if i come home by that route in the evenings. Admittedly by somewhat fragile fitness might suffer as a result however.

Thanks so much Michael for taking this up. I'm also very happy to support the consultation.

Also - I do live on Honor Oak Park (as in the main drag) and I am happy for double deckers to come past (even if it means people can see into my lounge!) if it also means extended and improved transport options.

I think a major point in our favour too is the fact that the ELL will be coming to Honor Oak in 2010. I am sure the folk of Peckham Rye and the surrounding area would like to have easier access to and from this line into the city. When the time comes for the consultation maybe afew of us should meet up locally for a drink and put together our case for the 63 to be extended.

I tend to agree with peoples concerns about double decker buses thundering down Honor oak every 5 minutes. It will make the service slower as traffic past Honor Oak station in rush hour is back to back. There's also a primary school on the corner at the top of the hill that would be affected by increased traffic - and I do wonder why people refuse to walk the 10 minutes it takes to Devonshire road from the top of Forest Hill rd, it would take longer by bus (10 minute wait, 10 minute travel in the traffic) - what's the problem with you lazy lot?

If you dont mind a wait, the P12 will take you from Honor Oak station to the top of Forest Hill Rd - is that not good enough? Perhaps the P12 shoould be a more frequent service?

Although there may be some concerns about extra busses the point is that a lot of us want the convenience of being able to get on a bus (or a night bus for that matter, which in itself would be safer for us who use it) which comes over the hill. We would like the bus to take us to Honor Oak Park from the city, or from Honor Oak Park to the city / kings cross instead of dropping us over the big hill. Where you live Gingernut? Possibly nearer Forest Hill Road or where you are better served by the 63 and other buses? Also the P12 is not viable as it involved a long wait and a change, why cant we have a bus that goes straight through. Maybe a suggestion would be to have alternate 63's coming over the hill to us at HOP. It would be interesting to get a cross section of views to see who would welcome this or who would oppose it.

If I get the 63 I still have to walk home, it's not a door to door drop off. Same if I get a 185 or 121, P4 etc.

The hills are unfortuantely a characteristic of our area. Honor Oak Park isnt more than about 10 minute walk from the 63 bus stop. Although I agree it's not a pleasant walk via one tree hill late a night and if I were coming home late i'd go a different way or get a taxi.

I still think Honor Oak Park is unsuitable for large buses.

Extending the 63 route to link up with the station has to be a good thing; it is integrating the services. Well done Michael for pursing this.

Sure it will cause a little more daytime noise for some residents, but is no more noisy than all the other trucks that use this route.

But I would not be supportive of the N63 using this route unless it was replaced by a smaller quieter single decker bus.
The noise these double decker night buses make is well out of proportion to the average night-time vehicle.

I agree with Perryman to a degree on the night bus side of things but to be fair nightbuses are only 1 an hour at best so it is hardly that disruptive?