Sadiq Khan’s Superloop ‘puts more Londoners on buses but they keep getting stuck in traffic’

Sadiq Khan’s Superloop ‘express’ bus network increased the number of Londoners using buses but was hit by delays, the first detailed analysis of the mayor’s £6m initiative has revealed.

The report, compiled by Transport for London, said several of the nine Superloop routes “do not meet minimum performance standards”, primarily due to roadworks and a lack of bus lanes.

These include the SL8 route between Uxbridge and Shepherd’s Bush, the first Superloop route which Khan launched last July in a bid to provide a public transport alternative for motorists affected by the Ulez expansion in Greater London.

The SL8 was a rebranded version of the 607 express bus which was introduced just before the Uxbridge and South Ruislip by-election, in which Ulez was a factor in the failure of the Labor candidate to capture Boris Johnson’s old parliamentary seat.

Weekday ridership on SL8, the most heavily used route, rose from about 20,000 to 25,000, but the net increase is only 1% once all the extra Superloop buses and the loss of passengers on the routes are taken into account.” parallel”. The TfL report says “performance issues” are also to blame for the “absence of growth”.

The SL6 (formerly the X68) links Croydon and Russell Square, operating 12 weekday return journeys.

Passenger numbers are up 20%, but total less than 2,000 per day. The route also does not meet performance standards “due to disruption caused by roadworks on the stop section of the route”.

The SL7 (formerly the X26) between West Croydon and Heathrow doubled its frequency from two to four buses per hour, almost matching a 91% increase in passenger numbers.

However, TfL wants to reduce the length of the route – the longest in the capital – to improve reliability.

The SL9 (formerly X140) between Heathrow and Harrow fell short of its performance targets but delivered a two per cent increase in passenger numbers.

TfL says the Superloop has delivered a “faster increase in demand” than the rest of the bus network – for the same £1.75 fare.

There were 1.86 billion bus journeys in 2023/24, up five per cent on the previous year, but down from 2.05 billion in 2019/20.

Six of the nine Superloop routes have fewer than 10,000 passengers per day, despite buses typically running every 10 to 15 minutes.

Last month, TfL’s chief customer officer Alex Williams said the Superloop had increased ridership by an average of eight per cent in areas where the buses operated.

The mayor’s critics say the Superloop is little more than a cosmetic makeover. Buses on the SL3 route are famous ‘Boris Bus’ Routemasters, rather than zero-emission vehicles, while only single-decker buses can be used on the SL5 route due to low trees.

The SL1 between North Finchley and Walthamstow, the SL5 between Bromley and Croydon and the SL10 between Harrow and North Finchley “are performing well and better than the minimum contract standard, with bus speeds in line with expected performance”.

Mr Khan said the core aims of the Superloop were to provide faster journeys between London’s main city centers and transport hubs.

He promised to deliver a second Superloop network in his third term. It will include a ‘Bakerloop’ service along the proposed extension of the Bakerloo line, providing faster services between Elephant and Castle and Lewisham.

A spokesman for Mr Khan has been approached for comment.