Sadiq Khan has hailed the completion of the main circle of his Superloop network of express bus services.
The loop’s final three routes were all launched in the last few weeks, meaning that the network now forms a 138km circle through London’s suburbs.
The latest routes to join the network are SL2, linking Walthamstow and North Woolwich; SL3, linking Thamesmead and Bromley North; and SL5, linking Bromley North with Croydon town centre.
Still to be launched is the SL4 route, which does not form part of the main loop but will instead connect Canary Wharf with Grove Park, once the Silvertown Tunnel under the Thames has opened in 2025.
Mr Khan said: “The Superloop is a game-changing new network of express buses that have added more than six million additional bus kilometres to the capital’s bus network, linking stations, town centres, hospitals and transport hubs.
“I’m so excited about the benefits these new services will bring by providing Londoners with stronger alternatives to private car use, and helping us to build a better, greener London for everyone.
“When I made the tough decision to expand the Ulez London-wide, one of my key commitments to Londoners was to improve transport links in outer London. Today I’m proud to say I’m delivering on this commitment.”
When the Superloop was first announced by the Labour mayor 12 months ago, backed by £6m of City Hall funding, it was attacked by his Tory critics as “nothing more than a repackaging of existing routes and vague promises” and “a microscopic level of investment”.
The network will comprise four rebranded routes and six new ones. All services run every 12 minutes Monday to Saturday day times and every 15 minutes during all other day service times.
According to Transport for London (TfL), the Superloop now connects people using it with 310 other bus routes, 49 rail stations and 23 different rail lines, while early ridership figures show that almost half of all Superloop journeys involve an interchange with another mode of public transport. TfL said this shows the important role the network is already playing in better connecting outer London.
But the Superloop has also been criticised for not reaching some parts of outer London, with the borough of Havering left entirely unserved by the network. The London Assembly’s cross-party transport committee told the mayor in January that he must look at expanding the network to ensure wider coverage.
Mr Khan told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “It shows the success of the Superloop that other people would like it to come to them as well…
“So of course we’ll consider those parts of London where we could have express buses, the Superloop. We’re looking into what we could do -should I be lucky enough to win the election on May 2 – about the new generation of Superloop [services], and my message to those in Havering is, vote for me and you may get one.”
Havering Council said last year it was exploring the feasibility of a ‘North/South tram’, in a separate attempt to provide better transport links across the borough.
“We’re more than happy to speak to boroughs about plans they have,” the mayor said.
“An example of that is the West London Orbital [a proposed new addition to the London Overground], which is a borough-led initiative which we’re very supportive of.
“So Havering deserve credit for doing this piece of work, let them do their work and we’ll be more than happy to speak with them about what plans they’ve got.”
On the topic of the Superloop’s SL4 route through the Silvertown Tunnel, Mr Khan said: “We’ll have a lane [in the tunnel] reserved for buses, [and] we’ll be consulting about what more bus routes we want to go through the Silvertown Tunnel, because we do know in that part of London there aren’t many river crossings… There’s a single-decker bus that goes through the Blackwall Tunnel.
“So we will be speaking to residents there about what bus services they want.”
The bus referred to by Mr Khan is the 108 route from Lewisham to Stratford, which is the only London bus service east of Tower Bridge to cross the Thames.
