'Missing' 170 Bus Gets New Lease Of Life
Improved timetable for the bus that got stuck under a bridge
January 27, 2020
The 170 bus – which runs between Victoria Station and Wandsworth - gets a new, improved timetable from 1 February. The service will run every seven to eight minutes during the day on Mondays to Saturdays, and every 12 minutes on Sundays and all other evenings.
Currently you can catch a 170 approximately every 8-16 minutes depending on the time of day.
The 170’s route covers keys areas of SW18 which are not serviced particularly well by tube or overground rail. So vital is the service, that when part of the route was suddenly withdrawn just before Christmas 2017, over 800 residents signed a petition in just a few days to get the route reinstated.
The problem arose when TfL replaced the old style single decker bus throughout the route with a newer model which couldn’t safely fit under the rail bridge on Lombard Road. The 170 completely disappeared from the Lombard Road, Vicarage Crescent, Battersea Church Road area and was diverted via Battersea Bridge Road and Prince of Wales Drive until January 2018 when TfL agreed to reinstate the old style buses.
The low rail bridge which thwarted the new style 170 bus in 2017. Image: Google Streetview
Back in the present day, the new timetable should bring relief to locals who rely on the 170. David Jones, Group Agent for Wandsworth Conservatives, recently reported on a residents’ petition to increase capacity on the 170 route: “Many local people depend on the 170 bus, but find that it’s often overcrowded at key times, and that the service is not frequent enough to meet their needs.”
Welcoming TfL’s plans to introduce a more frequent timetable, Wandsworth’s transport spokesman Cllr Paul Ellis said: “This increase in frequency is a very welcome development and will provide our residents with an improved service on this busy and popular route.
“If it hadn’t been for a combination of people power and town hall pressure this bus route might have been axed in 2017 so I’m delighted it’s been given a new lease of life and can continue to serve our residents.”