603 Bus Campaign
The community of parents taking their children to Hampstead and Highgate schools has been united for more than 20 years in saying that the public transport options for children going from Swiss Cottage/Hampstead/Belsize Park towards Highgate schools, and from Muswell Hill towards Highgate and Hampstead schools are inadequate.
The 603 bus, when launched in 2004, helped to partly solve this problem but its service is insufficient.
Green School Runs has approached TFL in early 2022 to ask for an increase in frequency and amendment to the timetable of the 603 bus route.
Currently, only two services are run in the morning and in the afternoon, starting from Muswell Hill. We would like:
-
Regular services every 8-11 minutes starting from Muswell Hill AND from Swiss Cottage between 6:40 and 8:15 in the morning.
-
Regular services every 8-11 minutes starting from Muswell Hill AND from Swiss Cottage between 15:15 and 17:15 in the afternoon.
If you are interested in this campaign, please get in touch with us at info@greenschoolruns.org
Read the document prepared for TFL:
Green School Runs (GSR) requests TFL to extend the service of the 603 bus
UPDATE - APRIL 2022
GSR met with TFL transport planners to discuss the 603 bus service in March 2022. Despite an honest and productive discussion, our request to extend the service of the 603 bus - or at least change the current timetable - was rejected on the basis of TFL's previous research, which however we argue is more than 10 years old and therefore out of date. We remain committed to pursuing this issue and building a stronger case for the need to extend the 603 bus service.
UPDATE - May 2023
At the beginning of May 2023, GSR launched a campaign on its Twitter account (@GreenSchoolRuns) using the hashtag #603Watch to draw the attention of TfL and local councillors in particular, to the plight of the 603 bus service. By providing daily updates on the 603 bus, we have highlighted how unreliable this bus service is, which is one of the reasons why so few people use it.
This social media campaign brought the issue of the 603 bus service back to the forefront of people's minds. As a result, at the end of May 2023, we held a call with local school leaders and local councillors to strategise the next steps of this campaign.
We would like to thank everyone who has joined us in this campaign, and in particular all the local councillors from different political parties who have shown such a willingness to work together to provide better public transport for their constituents.