Sadiq Khan unveils the Superloop: an express bus service that will (almost) encircle London

Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London has announced plans to create a new network of express buses that will connect town centres, hospitals and transport hubs by adding over 4 million km to the bus network in outer London.

Despite covering a considerable distance, the express service would stop less often than busses serving the regular routes. The service would be funded by part of the £6m that has been made available to improve bus services in outer London.

The loop would be created by merging existing routes with brand new ones, the first one of which would be a route between Harrow and North Finchley, which will be subject to consultation in the coming months.

Other new routes would run between Walthamstow and North Finchley and between Royal Docks and Walthamstow. Potential new routes would connect Bromley to Bexleyheath and Croydon to Bromley.

Existing routes being incorporated into the network will be: route X26 – West Croydon to Heathrow Airport, route X140 – Heathrow Airport to Harrow, route 607 – Uxbridge to White City and route X68 – Russell Square to West Croydon.

Explaining the thinking behind the scheme TfL say: ‘Analysis of our existing limited stop bus routes shows they have the potential to boost bus ridership and boost customer satisfaction across outer London, where there is a specific need for more public transport. The Superloop service would complement our other plans to improve the outer London public transport network, including growing the bus network, introducing the full peak timetable on the Elizabeth line this May and introducing new trains on the DLR and Piccadilly line.’

Oliver Lord, Head of Strategy and UK Campaign, Clean Cities Campaign says: ‘I’m excited to see plans for the Superloop, especially as car trips are a huge source of air pollution in outer London

‘Our Win-Win report was clear that to make schemes like the ULEZ work for everyone, city leaders need to invest in public transport so that services are attractive, available and affordable, so it’s great to see the Mayor setting this example.’