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The number of buses running along Oxford Street could be cut by almost half under plans to pedestrianise Britain’s busiest shopping street.

Transport for London today announced proposed changes to 23 routes to help deliver Mayor Sadiq Khan’s promise to remove vehicles from Oxford Street by 2020.

Buses would be re-routed away from Oxford Street or have their routes cut short, with some terminating at Marble Arch or in Bloomsbury.

Shoppers not wanting to walk would be forced to wait for another bus.

Mr Khan wants to make the changes to improve safety for pedestrians and cyclists and to reduce air pollution.

TfL says the opening of Crossrail in late 2018 - with new stations at Tottenham Court Road and Bond Street - will provide alternative ways of reaching the street for many of the four million shoppers it attracts each week.

More trains are running on the Victoria and Northern lines and the launch of the Night Tube has reduced demand for night bus services.

There has been a fall in the number of bus passengers in central London. One of the routes set to be affected, the 73, has seen an 11 per cent drop this year compared to 2011, TfL said.

Its new business plan will propose a 40 per cent cut in the number of buses on Oxford Street, currently about 270 an hour. TfL plans to pedestrianise the street in two stages, with the western section from Oxford Circus being done first.

Gareth Powell, TfL’s director of strategy and contracted services, said: “These proposals ‎respond to the changing way people travel across central London and will do in the future.”

He said Crossrail - which will be renamed Elizabeth Line when it opens - would mean that “many more people will choose rail rather than road to get to and through the West End”.

He added: “By making these changes to bus services we can provide the right level of service and in the process we can make Oxford Street a safer and healthier place.”

In September the London Assembly’s transport committee warned Mr Khan that it would be “impossible” to pedestrianise Oxford Street without a “sizable reduction” in buses. However the problem of finding alternative routes - with Wigmore Street regarded as too narrow for heavy bus use - has foxed transport planners for decades.

The proposals affect routes 3, 6, 8, 15, 22, 23, 25, 46, 73, 137, 172, 242, 332, 390, 425, 452, C2, N2, N3, N8, N15, N22 and N73.

Jace Tyrrell, chief executive of the business group New West End Company, said: “We welcome Transport for London’s proposal to reduce the number of buses across the West End, which will greatly help reduce congestion and improve air quality in London’s retail heartland.

“Ahead of the arrival of the Elizabeth line in 2018, which is expected to bring 60 million visits to the West End annually, it is essential that there is genuine traffic reduction to ensure the West End retains its position as a world class retail destination.”