Bus Route 194 once ran an extended leg from Lower Sydenham Bell Green to Forest Hill. In recent years this leg of the route has been discontinued.

With the introduction of the increased frequency of TfL Overground services at Forest Hill Station it may be argued that this leg of the former 194 Route should be restored to match the increased frequency of the combined train services at Forest Hill.

Routes 181, 352, 450 and 202 (just one stop away) have effectively created a transport hub at Sainsbury's at Bell Green and a restored 194 service could improve access to these services. The restoration would also provide interlinks with the 75 route.

Whilst Route 356 does provide a link from Forest Hill to Bell Green it might be possibly be the case that Route 356 is one of the least efficient services on the TfL bus network with a 20 minute interval service that has hardly proved to be reliable. The re-introduction of the 194 leg could be seen to have significant advantages by augmenting the service frequency to match the frequency the of Overground service.

Commuters who could be made aware of the improved link to the Bell Green hub would almost certainly make use of it.

Like many issues associated with the former Gas Works site at Bell Green, no one representative body feels it owns or champiuons any particular issue at this site.

This proposal may may have some merit.