A woman was left fighting for her life after her car was involved in a crash with a bus in south London.

Ten people were injured in the crash in Croydon yesterday afternoon.

Police said that the woman driving the car was left with “life threatening injuries” after the smash on Addiscombe Road. She was taken by helicopter to the Royal London Hospital, where she remains in a critical condition.

Both the car and the number 466 bus were both badly damaged after they swerved to avoid each other and both hit trees at the side of the road.

Roads in the area were closed yesterday afternoon as six ambulance crews dealt with the aftermath of the crash.

One man, a 45-year-old, was also taken to hospital with injuries that are not thought to be life-threatening. The other seven people were taken to hospital with minor injuries.

A London Ambulance Service spokesman said: “We were called to reports of a road traffic collision involving a bus and a car on Addiscombe Road. We sent six ambulance crews, three single responders in cars, two duty officers and the air ambulance to the scene.

“One patient has been taken by air to the Royal London Hospital and a second patient – a 45-year-old man – has been taken as a priority to St George’s Hospital. A further seven patients have been taken to Mayday Hospital with minor injuries.”

A Transport for London spokeswoman said: “The road was closed in both directions between Ashburton Road and Shirley roundabout with local diversions in place. We are working closely with the police and the emergency services. There will be a full investigation into this incident.”

Bus drivers will gather in London later wearing only their underwear to highlight a “huge disparity” in wages they claim is damaging services.

Members of the Unite union will unveil boxer shorts with the words “Stop the race to the bottom” in Marble Arch.

It warns disparity in pay between firms is encouraging cut-throat practices to win over employment standards when contracts are awarded.

Unite warned of a “real prospect” of a London-wide strike ballot.

The union has 28,000 members across all bus companies.

A spokesman said: “Companies paying higher rates are cutting terms and conditions in their bid to hold on to work while drivers are forcibly transferred across London, hitting their pensions and wages as lower paying companies win routes from their current employers.”

Pay rates between workers of different companies can vary by as much as £10,000 a year, the union warned.

Admin Comment: What a PANTS idea!!!!  What about women drivers, do they just wear the boxer shorts?? Oh dear, even the Trade Unions are now forgetting about being PC….

The Transport for London (TfL) Board today announced its decision to sell East Thames Buses (ETB) to London General Transport Services Limited, part of the Go Ahead Group.

The transfer of ETB by TfL to the private sector will save TfL more than £30m over the next nine years, through the sale of assets and reduced operating costs, thus providing significantly better value for money for fare and taxpayers.

David Brown, Managing Director for Surface Transport, said: ‘The operation of ETB is not a part of TfL’s core business and this deal represents much better value for money for fare and taxpayers.

‘We are confident that London General will deliver improvements in service for passengers on the nine routes currently operated by ETB, at a reduced cost.

‘All employees working for ETB will be transferred to London General on the same contractual terms.’

It is expected the ETB operations will transfer to London General in early September.

All ETB bus routes will continue to operate as normal and all affected employees are being consulted and will be transferred according to the provisions of the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006, maintaining their current contractual terms.

This was the major reason for my visit, to photograph the new Scania Omnicity double deckers and Optare Versa single deckers which are currently replacing older vehicles on local routes.  Bus services in Woolwich are provided by East Thames Buses(1), Go Ahead London(2), Metrobus(2) & Selkent(12).

Vehicles used include Alexander & Transbus ALX400/Plaxton President/Wrightbus Eclipse Gemini/Scania Omnidekka and Scania Omnicity double deckers operating alongside Plaxton & Transbus Pointer Dart/Alexander Dennis Enviro 200 Dart and Optare Versa single deckers.

Highlights of vehicles and operators in Woolwich are shown below:-

The next location, Bexleyheath, will be uploaded on Monday.

Bus Services in Lewisham are provided by East Thames Buses(3), Go Ahead London Central(6), Metrobus(3) & Selkent(11).  Buses utilised include Transbus & Alexander Dennis ALX400/East Lancs Scania Omnidekka/Plaxton & Transbus President/Wrightbus Eclipse Gemini & Alexander Dennis Enviro 400 double deckers operating alongside Plaxton & Transbus Pointer Dart/East Lancs Esteem/Wrightbus Cadet/Mercedes Citaro G and Alexander Dennis Enviro 200 single deckers.

Highlights of vehicles and operators in Lewisham are shown below:-

The next location, Woolwich, will be uploaded on Saturday.

COMMUTERS lobbying for the extension of a key bus route say the scheme would help ease their transport misery during the closure of Wanstead tube station.

The Central Line stop will be shut down for refurbishment work on Monday and is due to remain closed for ten weeks, forcing thousands of passengers to look for alternative routes into London.

Campaigners have battled for more than a year to get the 330 bus route - which runs from Forest Gate to the Docklands and Liverpool Street - extended to Wanstead, and say the closure of the station has made this move even more vital.

The group has already gathered more than 250 signatures on a petition calling for the extension - which they plan to present to Transport for London (TfL) next month.

Campaigner Alex Phillips, who works for the Financial Service Authority in Canary Wharf, said the extension would give commuters a vital alternative to using the Tube.

He said: “It would be good for a number of reasons, such as if the tube was shut or they go on strike and because it gives people on low incomes an alternative to the tube which can be quite expensive.

“When it’s been shut before I’ve had to get a mini cab which isn’t too bad for me because I’m on okay money, but for a lot of people a £15 cab fare just isn’t an option.

“It gives people another alternative and I haven’t come across anyone who thinks it’s a bad idea.”

Conservative parliamentary candidate for Leyton and Wanstead, Ed Northover, added: “The Wanstead Tube Summer Shutdown has exposed the poor transport alternatives available to local residents.

“The recent tube strike has reinforced the urgent need for local alternative routes.

“This is a cost effective way to improve local transport facilities and make a real difference to local residents.

“I urge local residents to support our campaign to extend the 330 Bus Route to Wanstead High Street”

You can sign the petition online at: tinyurl.com/facebook330busroute.

Admin Comment: It is a truly great thing that commuters are banding together to get a bus route extended, shame it’s the WRONG ONE!!! Whether through mis-reporting by the journalist, or some serious misinformation from local people I don’t know but, as can be seen at Robert Munster’s excellent London Bus Routes website, Route 330 actually runs from Forest Gate Wanstead Park Station to Canning Town…

Call me an anorak if you will, but Canning Town is 4.5 miles from Liverpool Street and the route certainly cannot be described as serving London Docklands.  The only thing the route does is allow people to connect to the Jubilee Line or Docklands Light Railway which, sort of, get you to Liverpool Street (with a change or two).

The article even goes to prove that Local MP’s who “battle for transport improvements” don’t even bother to check their facts before issuing a soundbite, way to go Mr Northover.  Perhaps, if I can make a suggestion to the assembled masses of Wanstead, you might like to sign another petition to get the 330 extended the other way as well……

Highlights of vehicles and operators in Crystal Palace are shown below:-

London Tramlink Bombardier Eurorail CR4000 Fleet Number 2540 arriving at Addington Village Interchange on Tram Route 3 bound for New Addington.

London Tramlink Bombardier Eurorail CR4000 Fleet Number 2531 arriving at Addington Village Interchange on Tram Route 3 bound for Wimbledon.

It may not be possible to scrap bendy buses from London before 2015 due to contracts, Mayor Boris Johnson said.

Removing the “much-loathed vehicles” was one of Mr Johnson’s key pledges during the mayoral election last year.

The mayor’s office said many would be phased out by 2012 when contracts ended, but some may remain operational.

This was due to a deal by the previous mayor which gave bus companies the right to a two-year automatic extension of contract, the mayor’s office said.

Of the total nine bendy bus routes, contracts for five will expire by 2011, the contract on the sixth route will expire in early 2012.

The contracts for the three remaining routes end in 2011 and 2013 but because of the automatic extension deal by former Mayor Ken Livingstone’s administration the buses on those routes could potentially operate until 2015.

This means that contracts for bendy buses plying on four routes will not come under review until after the next mayoral elections in 2012.

It is “most cost effective” to let the contracts expire rather than to breach them and compensate the bus companies, the mayor’s office said.

Mr Johnson, said: “The fact that the bus companies are starting to sell off these beasts of the road shows that our promise to rid London of the much-loathed vehicles is being realised.”

Last October critics of the plan said scrapping bendy buses from London would cost an additional £60m.