The borough’s three-most accident prone bus routes are those that go through Kingston town centre, it has been revealed.

The 57, 65 and 281 have officially become Kingston’s most dangerous bus routes with a total of 2,004 collisions reported since 2006.

The information comes from a freedom of information request to Transport for London that asked for the number of recorded bus collisions for each route in the capital between 2006 and until April 31, 2014.

All three routes stop at Eden Street in Kingston town centre, which has a number of bus stops along the road.

Councillor David Cunningham, lead member of Environment and Transport, said: "Eden Street has more buses than anywhere else other than Oxford Street in the whole of London.

"The experience through Eden Street is diabolical. We are engaging with traffic consultants to look at alternative routes and how we can reduce them [buses in Eden Street]."

He added the 65 route was a "particularly long one" not just taking in Kingston but also Richmond and Ealing.

Surrey Comet: A busy Eden Street

Kingston's top three most accident-prone bus routes all travel through Eden Street 

Number 57 had 773 collisions recorded, the 65 had 695 and the 281, which is a 24-hour bus, had 536 recorded.

According to data collected in the first quarter of the year, bus number 65 has already had 42 collisions.

Jon Tolly, co-owner of Banquet Records in Eden Street, called for the road to be pedestrianised or have railings put in to stop people crossing in the middle.

He said: "There is an argument for pedestrianisation. People don’t always think, they are strolling leisurely not looking anywhere.

"When we have in-stores the only thing that matters is making sure people don’t walk on to the road."

The safest bus routes in the borough were the 691 and 965 - both only having been involved in just one accident each since 2006.

But Kingston routes are far from the most problematic in the capital.

The number 38 from Clapton Pond in Hackney to Victoria recorded 1,447 collisions and the number 73 from Victoria to Stoke Newington had 1,268 in the same period.

Ken Davidson, TfL’s head of bus operations, said: “Bus travel in London is very safe.  We record details of all incidents involving our buses, no matter how minor, and the numbers must be considered in relation to the scope and scale of the a bus network that comprises of more than 8,600 buses, operating on 700 bus routes and carrying more than 2.3 billion passengers every year in the process travelling more than 490 million kilometres in passenger service.

“However, there is no room for complacency, and we are continuing to work with our stakeholders to further bear down on such incidents: improving the design and engineering of roads and junctions, reducing traffic speeds and raising awareness of road safety risks and safe behaviours with prominent public campaigns."

 

Number of accidents on bus routes travelling through Kingston from 2006 to April 2014:

Surrey Comet: