The London Assembly Member for Ealing & Hillingdon, Bassam Mahfouz, has joined with Hindu worshippers and community leaders in Southall calling for Transport for London (TfL) to provide a bus service to reach the Asamai Cultural Trust on Johnson Street.
Mr Mahfouz, who is also an Ealing councillor, has held talks with TfL bosses about re-routing a Southall bus so one can be used to reach the Trust premises.
Currently the nearest bus stop is on Western Road which means people have to walk around 800m to get to the Asamai Cultural Trust which is double the 400m TfL aims for local people not have to be far from a bus stop.
As well as religious services, the centre offers health and wellbeing activities including music and language schools for the 500 people who attend the Trust each week.
The provision of a bus service will also benefit residents living in and and around Johnson Street as well as local businesses.
Ashok Bhasin, general secretary of the Asami Cultural Trust said: “Many of our worshipers attend regularly during the week to avoid social isolation, by connecting through our social groups, to eat together or attend one of our classes. The lack of a local bus service means that for many of our older members simply cannot access these key services without getting a lift, or an expensive taxi journey.”
Mr Mahfouz said: “For far too long this corner of Southall has been barren of a bus service. I have long fought to make our borough a more accessible place and a simple re-routing of one of the many local buses would make a huge impact locally.
“Around 800 households, 500 worshipers and dozens of businesses would benefit from the change we are calling for. I am delighted that as a direct result of the meeting that I have organised, TfL have agreed to investigate the possibility of re-routing one of the local buses to end this decades long wait for a bus service.”
A TfL spokesperson said: “Buses are an important lifeline for millions of Londoners and we’re determined to ensure that people have access to reliable, frequent services. We regularly review our services according to demand and must ensure that any changes to the bus network improve people’s ability to access public transport.
“Feedback is hugely important to us and we are speaking to the community in Southall about their proposals.”
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