Dangerous routes revealed on list

11:30am Tuesday 8th August 2006

THREE of the borough's bus routes have been named in the top 12 most dangerous in London.

Drivers of the 61 bus, which goes from the Gordon Arms pub in Chislehurst to Bromley North station, made 458 "code red" emergency calls from July last year to July this year.

This is the second highest in the capital with only 13 calls less than route 25 which goes from Ilford to Oxford Circus.

Route 51 from Orpington to Woolwich is 10th in the list with 322 calls and the 176 bus from Penge to Oxford Circus is 11th in the list.

The figures have been released in a list of the 40 most troublesome routes, as compiled by Transport for London (TfL).

Problems on the buses include criminal damage, disorder, theft and yobs etching their "tags" on to windows.

Human resources consultant Brenda Pert gets the 61 bus to Orpington station about once a week and says she would never get on the top deck.

The 61-year-old is also worried about groups of youngsters at bus stops.

She said: "I am very aware I could be viewed as elderly so might be seen as an easy target.

"When you are on the bus you can hear the youngsters screaming and shouting.

"Clearly the windows do not get etched by themselves."

Ms Pert, of Crofton Road, Locksbottom, is not surprised by the 61 bus route being the second worst in London and thinks more needs to be done to improve bus safety and stop yobs.

She said: "Why do we have CCTV cameras on buses when we are not doing anything about what they are telling us?

"I do not see why we cannot get to grips with it.

"We probably know when yobbish behaviour goes on and what time of day so why aren't we going and getting them?"

A TfL spokesman said: "We now have full CCTV coverage on all of our buses.

"Every bus also has direct radio contact with a 24-hour control room so passengers are better protected than ever before."

He added: "Only a tiny proportion of code red incidents are of a serious nature. The majority are low-level disorder.

"All drivers are actively encouraged to report any instance of anti-social behaviour, no matter how minor, to the control room."