Putney’s bus routes are officially among the most complained about in London, according to new figures released by Transport for London (TfL) — validating months of public anger and independent reporting on the collapse of local services.
Three of the capital’s five worst-rated bus routes — the 14, 265 and 93 — serve Putney, with residents citing slow speeds, long gaps, skipped stops and buses that vanish from live trackers. The 14 bus, which runs from Putney Heath to Russell Square, recorded the second highest number of complaints across all of London last year. At peak times, it crawls at just 5.3mph — slower than a jog.
The 265 — long dubbed a “ghost bus” by local passengers — took third place, while the 93, connecting Putney Bridge to North Cheam, placed fourth.
Across London, TfL received more than 70,000 complaints about its bus services in the 12 months to June 2025, and nearly 200,000 over the past three years. But the concentration of problem routes in Putney points to a deeper, localised failure of policy and oversight.
| Bus route | Complaints in past year | Rush hour speed |
|---|---|---|
| 65 | 443 | 7.4mph |
| 14 | 376 | 5.3mph |
| 265 | 345 | 9.8mph |
| 93 | 345 | 7mph |
| 154 | 342 | 8.8mph |
‘Worse than it looks’: complaints system masks full scale of Putney disruption
A Putney.News investigation in June revealed how official reliability data fails to reflect the everyday chaos faced by passengers. Services that terminate early at Putney Heath or disappear en route often go uncounted in headline performance statistics, thanks to TfL’s reliance on scheduled versus actual start times rather than full route completion.
TfL’s own performance dashboards claim up to 95% reliability on routes like the 14 and 265 — yet passengers report being routinely stranded, with buses “dumping” them mid-route or skipping entire sections of service. As we reported at the time, this discrepancy is not accidental but baked into the way performance is measured.
“It’s outrageous,” said one Roehampton commuter who was left waiting over 40 minutes for a 265 in May. “TfL says it’s a 10-minute service — that’s a fantasy. The buses just don’t show up.”
TfL absent as calls for accountability grow louder
Frustration turned to fury last month when TfL declined to attend a public meeting organised by local campaigners, residents’ associations and councillors to address mounting delays and poor reliability. TfL was accused of ducking scrutiny and treating Putney passengers as data points, not people.
The situation has been described as a “slow-motion service collapse” that has left key neighbourhoods like West Putney, Roehampton and East Sheen with irregular, unpredictable and overcrowded services — particularly during weekends and off-peak hours.
Despite growing calls for intervention, Wandsworth Council’s recent Growth Plan contained no measures to address the borough’s worsening bus performance, nor any mention of traffic enforcement or dedicated bus priority improvements along Putney High Street — one of the most congested corridors in London.
TfL says it’s ‘committed’ to improvements
In response to the new complaints data, TfL said it is “committed to ensuring every bus journey is a positive experience” and pointed to recent investments in zero-emission vehicles and the expansion of the limited-stop Superloop network.
A spokesperson added:
“London’s buses are the most used form of transport in the city and are vital in ensuring safe, reliable and accessible travel. We continue to address the small minority of customer complaints we receive.”
But campaigners say the problems in Putney are neither isolated nor minor. With thousands of residents reliant on buses for work, school, healthcare and everyday errands, pressure is growing on both TfL and Wandsworth Council to take action. For now, the buses keep crawling — or disappearing — and the complaints keep piling up.
The same data shows that complaints for Putney bus routes over the past three years have followed a clear upward trend:
- Year 1: 1,727 complaints
- Year 2: 2,407 complaints (+39% from previous year)
- Year 3: 2,821 complaints (+17% from previous year)
In total, complaints about Putney’s buses have risen by 63% over the three-year period — suggesting worsening reliability, service gaps, or public confidence in the network.
