The Feeder Loop

TfL have made another addition to the Superloop network, this time coming in the form of new route SL11 running between North Greenwich Station and Abbey Wood Station

The introduction of the SL11 is the first Superloop introduction which has included the direct removal of a parallel all stops service. While other Superloop routes such as the SL7, SL6 and SL8 have all seen renumberings of existing express routes, the routes themselves were left completely unchanged. Route 472 however, is now no more. But why was the 472 withdrawn? 

Route 472 was introduced in 1999, around the time the Jubilee Line was extended to Stratford via North Greenwich, providing the borough of Greenwich with its first London Underground link, while simultaneously providing a bus link to the newly opened Millennium Dome (today's O2 arena) while running through to Thamesmead. Over the years a growing population of people at Thamesmead, alongside a lot of new house building in the Woolwich and the Greenwich Peninsula area had seen demand for the 472 shoot up as it was a fast and frequent route linking these areas to their nearest stations. The opening of the Elizabeth Line saw the 472 rerouted to also serve Abbey Wood, adding another station to its portfolio. The demand for the 472 continued to grow and eventually it was decided that the 472 would become part of the Superloop network, providing an even faster link from dense housing areas to the stations in the area. The night service on the route was to be spun off as new route N472 instead. 

Route SL11 (and N472) in what could arguably be classed as major tendering upset saw the contract awarded to Go Ahead London, as opposed to Stagecoach London who had operated the 472 throughout its operational life. The route was to be run out of a new base in Thamesmead, however a pending planning application means that the SL11 is temporarily being operated out of Morden Wharf (MG) in the meantime. When the route moves to Thamesmead brand new electric buses are going to be introduced, but in the meantime the route is currently using a mix of New Routemasters that were previously on the SL3 alongside some Volvo B9TLs that Go Ahead have brought together from the rest of their fleet. 

The route was initially meant to have a full New Routemaster allocation, however extreme unreliability alongside the batch of buses being sat idle ever since they were relieved off their SL3 duties meant quite a few buses had issues passing their MOTs. While these are being rectified the Volvo B9TL buses are filling in, with themselves having been made free from electric conversions elsewhere in the company. For this reason the Volvos are also not branded with Superloop livery and are in plain red, something you don't frequently see on Superloop routes. 

I went to have a ride on the SL11 shortly after its introduction. For some bizarre reason before even boarding the bus I noticed that the stop sign at North Greenwich Bus Station did not have the SL11 on its tiles inside, although they were present on the flag. A New Routemaster showed up, complete with branding both inside and outside, including maps for the SL11 and even the N472 in a first for a night route. 

The route runs express, with some stops in the Greenwich Peninsula before heading non-stop to Woolwich and then running express through Thamesmead before reaching Abbey Wood. An interesting anomaly though is the SL11 shares a small parallel with the SL3, where the SL3 runs non stop past Linton Mead Primary School but the SL11 stops, so could be the only example in London where one Superloop stops but another one goes past express. We did have a few passengers on board who boarded in the Thamesmead area under the assumption this was an SL3 (we even had one person board thinking the route was a 301) and then stormed the driver with questions when we reached our last stop at Abbey Wood.

There is not much else to say about this route, it's effectively a 472 replacement that runs express. It's certainly going to be of huge use to the residents that live along the route that need to get to North Greenwich, Woolwich or Abbey Wood stations in decent time. Whether it will stimulate more growth on the route remains to be seen.

Superloop will continue to grow, with the SL12 being the next route to be introduced between Rainham and Gants Hill later this year!