TRANSPORT planners have “bungled” travel connections for passengers by taking out two bus stops and replacing them with one that’s hidden behind market stalls, a London Assembly member claimed. Now a site meeting with transport officials from City Hall has been arranged by East London's John Biggs to “sort out the muddle” of Whitechapel's vanishing bus stops

By Mike Brooke

TRANSPORT planners have “bungled” travel connections for passengers by taking out two bus stops and replacing them with one that’s hidden behind market stalls, a London Assembly member claimed this week.

Now a site meeting with transport officials from City Hall has been arranged by City & East London member John Biggs to “sort out the muddle” of Whitechapel’s vanishing bus stops.

“We need to find out the muddled thinking behind taking out these bus stops before market pitches could be relocated,” he said.

“Getting to the new stop is a challenge for most passengers. But there’s absolutely no chance for those in wheelchairs or mums with buggies.”

MISSING CONNECTIONS

Passengers coming out of Whitechapel Underground station to hop on a bus’ are missing their connections, says Biggs.

So he has arranged to meet City Hall officials at the spot at 10am on Wednesday to show them how you have to fight your way through the market stalls and step into the busy Whitechapel Road to get to the new stop that’s not even signposted.

The old stop was taken out to make way for widening a pedestrian crossing to the Royal London Hospital opposite.

The local authority which runs the street market thought they’d solved it by getting one of the stalls shifted out of the way to a new pitch—but that turned out to have a gas leak which prevented the move!