A school bus route between Addington and Orpington will be axed despite opposition to the Transport for London (TfL) proposal.
Route 654 currently runs twice a day – once in the morning and once in the afternoon – and is primarily a school bus serving Harris Academy Orpington.
Buses also pass Ravens Wood School and St Olave’s Grammar School.
TfL consulted on plans to withdraw the route in February and has now confirmed that it will press ahead with the proposal.
It comes despite 85 per cent of the 83 people who gave feedback on the move saying they did not agree with it.
Concerns included an increase in bus journey times for passengers currently using the 654, as well as the ability of other routes to deal with increased demand.
But TfL says that recent surveys found that only around 40 people were using it in the morning, and around 60 in the afternoon.
The route of the 654 is largely similar to route 353 between Addington Village and Harris Academy Orpington, and school route 664 between Addington Village and Keston.
Transport bosses claim that withdrawing the 654 will therefore allow for better use of “limited resources”.
Most passengers will be able to make the same journey on bus route 664 or 353, but those who use the service between Chelsfield and Harris Academy would have to use bus route R1 and change at Orpington High Street for route 353 or route R4 to complete their journey.
This means that passengers travelling to and from areas between Chelsfield and Harris Academy Orpington will no longer be served by a direct school bus service.
Bromley councillor Josh Coldspring-White, who opposed the proposal, told TfL that the 353 is already overcrowded during school times and cannot handle additional demand.
He added that removing the 654 route will limit access for vulnerable students, affecting social mobility and educational opportunities.
TfL claims that ticketing and survey data indicate that both the 353 and 664 have sufficient capacity to accommodate current and expected additional demand when the 654 stops running.
A date for the withdrawal of the route is yet to be confirmed.
