Transport for London working on plans to replace 84-bus service between Barnet and Potters Bar
Barry Rawlings, Labour leader of Barnet Council, is increasingly hopeful of a breakthrough in the campaign to the get the restoration of the 84-bus service between Barnet and Potters Bar.
Transport for London is said to be looking “very seriously” at the possibility of one of the buses which currently terminates at The Spires shopping centre extending its route to Potters Bar to provide a much-needed connection.
Metroline withdrew the 84 — which ran from New Barnet station to St Albans – last April.
The loss of the service has led to a storm of protest with aggrieved residents writing to local councillors and the Chipping Barnet MP Theresa Villiers.
With the support of Hertfordshire County Council, a private operator, Sullivan Buses, took over the route from St Albans to Potters Bar but Transport for London refused to subsidise a continuation to Barnet.
Parents and hospital patients have been seriously inconvenienced.
Pupils heading to and from schools in Barnet, Potters Bar and St Albans have been forced to find lengthy or costly alternative routes or means of transport, as have patients heading to appointments at either at Potters Bar Community Hospital or Barnet Hospital.
A journey that previously took eight minutes can take as long as 40 minutes.
After two meetings with Transport for London, Mr Rawlings – see above — said progress had at last been made.
He told the Barnet Society he hoped to see TfL again in January and after that meeting, he expects their planners to consider which service could extend its route to Potters Bar.
If agreement can be reached, there is every possibility a bus service to Potters Bar could be restored at the start of the new financial year next April.
The likeliest candidate is one of the three services currently terminating at The Spires:
234 Barnet Spires to Highgate Wood
326 Barnet Spires to Brent Cross
383 Barnet Spires to Finchley Memorial Hospital
Mr Rawlings said a priority was to provide a bus route to connect Barnet High Street to Hadley and Hadley Highstone and then on to the Potters Bar hospital the other side of the M25 motorway.
TfL would have to consider where the replacement service should terminate, at Potters Bar Hospital, Potters Bar bus garage or Potters Bar station.
“I am more hopeful than ever that we can re-instate a bus service on the old 84 route and for TfL the most obvious solution is to extend the route of one of the buses that currently terminates at The Spires,” said Mr Rawlings.
“A solution like this would be far more preferable than trying to persuade TfL to support Sullivan Buses to continue their service to Barnet.
Emails demanding the restoration of a bus service between Barnet and Potters Bar have been filling the inboxes of local councillors.
Emma Whysall, Labour councillor for High Barnet, and Richard Barnes, Labour councillor for Barnet Vale – see above — have both taken up the campaign and are delighted that Mr Rawlings believes a breakthrough is imminent.
Ms Whysall said the obvious solution was to extend one of the existing routes that terminated in Barnet. “If it is a TfL bus there are lots of advantages. It would mean elderly passengers could use their Freedom passes and Hopper fares would be valid as well.”
Metroline withdraw the 84 service because it was no longer commercially viable.
Lockdown undermined their efforts to create a new and reliable timetable as there were fewer passengers. Reliability suffered owing to a shortage of drivers and without funding from TfL at the level required, the service was no longer financially sustainable.
8 thoughts on “Transport for London working on plans to replace 84-bus service between Barnet and Potters Bar”
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The 234,326 and an express bus X43 all made that journey from Barnet to Potters Bar alongside the 84 in the 90s and at one point the 263 and N20 night bus went up there. So how on earth is it there is nothing at all!
The 234 would be the best option or even diverting the 107 up there since it mostly runs outside of London
I have lived in POTTERS BAR and used the 84 almost daily.
It is very important for those without transport to get to Barnet Hospital/the Northern line and opposite Barnet to Potters bar station and to St. Albans.
Pensioners and people relying on the 84 for work and children going to schools need a bus or a form of public transport.
Its scandalous to remove the 84.
The only other way to Barnet is via Borehamwood which entails 2 buses or TAXI which is very expensive.
BRIGIS MCCLATCHEY
Extending the 383 would also provide an alternative for when the rail service to Potters Bar is not working for one reason or another.
Please SIGN THE LETTER in THE WORKS in The Spires supporting re-introduction of the 84 bus from Barnet to Potters Bar and vice versa.
There is a lot of concern as to why this was taken off. The route was popular and very much needed for visits to our hospitals and school children to be able to get to school, and there should be a bus route between our two towns. We believe it was taken off during lockdown because it wasn’t busy, which obviously it wouldn’t have been when we were locked down.
This is the last chance to get it or another bus route reinstated to join our two towns enabling direct travel as was in the past. Thank you for signing the letter!
Sounds great! Well done to all of you helping to find a solution! Hope you get Theresa Villiers to support you too! Best Wishes – Stuart
Great news but to clarify the Freedom Pass allows you to travel on local bus services across England during off-peak times – 9.30am to 11pm Monday to Friday and all day at other times. Hopper fares would not be valid on an extended 84 route back into Barnet unless specifically subsidised by TfL. There is also an inexcusable compatibility issue between the fare collection systems in Greater London and Hertfordshire. As a separate issue these should be the same across the country.
While a direct service through London Colney to St Albans was previously well used and must surely have been preferable it could still be possible to make these journeys changing at Potters Bar. However that would only be possible if the new service links with the remaining 84 service which I suggest would be very desirable.
In fairness to TfL funding was not the definitive issue in the original service being axed. Metroline were offered assistance in getting access to additional funding to maintain the service during the Covid pandemic but declined to take it up. Metroline’s shortage of drivers would have been an insurmountable impediment to maintaining the previous route.
I am told the reduction in frequency of Metroline services on routes duplicated by the Elizabeth Line allows some of their services elsewhere to be extended and subsidies transferred to them. On routes through Barnet drivers will have sufficient hours they are allowed to carry passengers to extend a route to Potters Bar where they are based. Currently, as has been widely observed, the buses had been required to make that journey with out passengers. This was due to sensible agreements regulating the maximum hours in a shift drivers can carry passengers.
The loss of the service since April has had appalling impact on many people previously using it for essential journeys. Numerous school children travelled on the London Colney and St Albans sections of the route through to Barnet or in the other direction. At present these as well as those just making the hop between Barnet and Potters Bar are either being driven in private vehicles or have had their education disrupted by changing schools. Some have even been walking between Barnet and Potters Bar. This is addition to disrupted access to the hospital etc.
Despite the challenges in maintaining the service it should never have been allowed to be cut as it was. It is really critical for many people that it is in someway restored.
I would respectfully dispute (or perhaps rather clarify) the previous comments possible implication that this has been handled as a party political issue by TfL or anyone else. Credit due to the very large number of people who have lobbied TfL for this to be sorted out, certainly including our councillors but also other elected officials, various stakeholders and a very large number of members of the public.
If they can also stop the 384 buses using Salisbury Road, that would be terrific as well. Ever since they re-routed the 384 bus in 2020 (which they did without a proper public consultation with the residents of Salisbury Road, it was all done via invite only Zoom calls), the buses have destroyed our road’s surface, caused daily blockages, noise, pollution and vibrations to our homes. It seems like there isn’t a bus route in or around Barnet that they haven’t completely messed up with poor decision making that disqualifies the public from actually having a say.
That’s a Labour vote secured for a good few years if they can pull this off! Much thanks to everyone working on it and fingers crossed this lifeline can be restored!