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MP wins new 568 bus service
Off-peak 568 to be restored to Chessington

Chessington's MP, Edward Davey, has won the partial restoration of the 568 bus service, linking Chessington and Epsom at off-peak hours.

After the 568 service was axed earlier this year, Edward Davey MP and local Liberal Democrat councillor, Tricia Bamford, took up the fight.

After two high level meetings with London Transport Buses and the operator, London United Buses, the local Liberal Democrats won agreement for a partial restoration of the 568 bus service.

The newly-restored service will start up on 4th September, with the first bus leaving Chessington about 9am. This means that people needing to travel to Epsom Hospital or to go to Epsom for shopping will have this service restored. London Transport figures show that the majority of people who used the 568 from Chessington before were off-peak travellers.

Mr.Davey remains concerned about the lack of a peak service, even though the new E15 does serve part of the area hit by the previous withdrawal of the 568. Mr. Davey has therefore asked senior bus managers to review both the 568 and E15 this October to look at a more sustainable, effective solution for local people.

Commenting on the news, Edward Davey said:

"Obviously we are delighted. I would like to thank all the local campaigners who got behind this. This off-peak service will particularly help patients of Epsom Hospital and Chessington's senior citizens.

"However, I won't be totally satisfied until this important bus connection is available at peak times too. I've asked senior managers to consult local people about the changes. We should be looking at enhancing this sort of service.

"When London Transport re-worked their figures, as I requested, they suddenly discovered that twice as many people had been using this route as they had previously thought. So local people were quite right to object to the withdrawal of this service.

"We will now be looking to Surrey County Council to play their part in the review of links between Epsom and Chessington, but I am grateful for the help I received from London Transport."

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