Commuters who regularly battle to board buses on the W19 route have presented a report highlighting the problems to Transport for London and City Hall.

Newham Recorder: Commuters cram on to the W19 busCommuters cram on to the W19 bus (Image: Archant)

The report, called Standing Room Only, has been compiled by a group of disgruntled passengers who monitored the bus service – which links Manor Park with Ilford and Walthamstow – over a year.

It highlights overcrowding during the weekday morning peak buses towards Walthamstow, with large numbers of standing passengers, and heavily loaded buses towards Ilford during the late afternoon and evening peak periods.

Passengers were frequently left behind at stops, the report revealed. Its findings were sent on to Newham, Redbridge and Waltham Forest councils, local MPs and the Mayor of London.

John Darnell, a regular passenger and one of the report’s authors, said: “Not only are the buses crammed full but people are left standing at stops.

Newham Recorder: Commuters on the W19 busCommuters on the W19 bus (Image: Archant)

“It’s completely unacceptable and TfL needs to get a grip of the situation. More buses are needed on this popular route. It’s time to get everyone on board”.

TfL made changes to the W19 timetable on June 21 which increased the service by one bus an hour, from Monday to Saturday, upping the frequency to a bus every 12 minutes in the rush hour and every 15 minutes at other times until 7pm.

But, commuters still claim 100 of them were left behind at stops between Manor Park and Leytonstone last month.

John Barry, TfL’s head of network development for buses, said: “We keep the W19 bus under regular review and put in a frequency increase in June.

“Demand for London’s bus network continues to grow so we are grateful for this report and will now review what it says.”