Superloop route between North Woolwich and Walthamstow sees further info released

Transport for London have published a few more snippets of information and their rationale behind the forthcoming express SL2 bus route planned to start next year between North Woolwich and Walthamstow.

The route will link North Woolwich to major town centres and transport interchanges at Barking, Gants Hill, Ilford and Walthamstow.

Consultation was undertaken over the summer with results published in October, but detailed responses to various questions were only uploaded yesterday.

These include responses as to why it will not serve City Airport or Custom House DLR and Elizabeth line stations.

For City Airport TfL state it would slow down journeys given pinch points as well as a lack of stand space.

In terms of connecting to Custom House station, the response claims “This option was assessed but it generated fewer benefits than running to North Woolwich.

“This is because existing journey times are similar or quicker by rail between Walthamstow, Ilford, Barking and Gants Hill, and Custom House with one interchange. The Elizabeth line can be accessed at Ilford.”

Journey times

We have yet to find out exact journey times for this or other forthcoming Superlooop routes. A car can do the entire SL2 journey in around 25 minutes off-peak. Add in a handful of stops and bus should be competitive particularly with bus lanes.

The route could also help many south of the Thames in Woolwich and surrounding areas with the new route accessible via the foot tunnel or ferry. Of course, the ferry isn’t the best for reliability anymore and the foot tunnel often has lifts out of action.

Still, being optimistic and assuming those issues are overcome it’ll certainly be enticing for some. Areas like Walthamstow in 25 minutes or Barking in around 10 minutes opens up a lot of transport options.

Barking has the c2c line to Essex, London Overground across east and north London plus two tube lines in the District and Hammersmith & City.

Gants Hill has the Central line while Ilford has trains on the Shenfield Elizabeth line branch with easy links to Greater Anglia trains to Essex and Suffolk.

Dozens of other requests and questions have been answered by TfL and can be seen here.

The route is set to begin in spring 2024 alongside another from Thamesmead to Bromley. Yesterday TfL confirmed the route of another running from Bromley to Croydon which was covered here.