A further Superloop limited-stop bus route in London dubbed the ‘Bakerloop’ BL1 will start operation this autumn after completion of a consultation process by Transport for London (TfL). Plans for three more Superloop routes have also been unveiled by TfL, which would take to 16 the number in operation including the BL1.
The Bakerloop is so christened as it will mirror a hoped-for extension to the Bakerloo tube line between Waterloo and Lewisham that is currently unfunded.
The existing 10-route Superloop network covers 194km. TfL claims it “has transformed travel in outer London and added more than seven million kilometres per year to the capital’s bus network” since the first of those services were introduced in July 2023.
Patronage on all Superloop corridors, including parallel routes, is up by 11% since that date, which TfL says is 9% higher than the network average.
The Bakerloop BL1 will run every 12 minutes on Monday to Saturday daytimes and every 15 minutes on Sundays and during the evening and early mornings. In a consultation response, TfL says it anticipates use of battery-electric buses but caveats how that may not be the case from launch.
The boroughs of Lewisham and Southwark both support its introduction, with Southwark to contribute Section 106 funding towards the route.
As part of the change, TfL will reduce the Monday to Saturday daytime frequency of partially parallel route 453 during 2025, although it adds that at the busiest times on Old Kent Road, net provision will rise from 58 buses per hour to 60.
TfL Director of Public Transport Service Planning Geoff Hobbs says that existing Superloop services “are providing a hugely valuable way for Londoners to travel” and that work on launching the Bakerloop route will now progress.
Two further Superloop routes – the SL11 and SL12 – were recently subject to consultation. Responses are currently being analysed. Three more are now proposed: The SL13, SL14 and SL15. Consultation on those will start in autumn.
