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Home / Local news / A ‘Historically Under-Served’ Area Of London Is Getting A Speedy New Bus Route This Weekend – And Here’s How Londoners Can Hop Aboard For Free

A ‘Historically Under-Served’ Area Of London Is Getting A Speedy New Bus Route This Weekend – And Here’s How Londoners Can Hop Aboard For Free

London’s ever-expanding family of speedy Superloop services is set to welcome its newest member tomorrow (January 24). The new rapid route on the block will whizz Londoners between Abbey Wood and North Greenwich via the likes of Thamesmead and Woolwich. And it will be completely free to use for the first week.

The SL11 Superloop bus route

SL11 is the name and speeding up journeys between these ‘historically under-served’ areas of London is the game. The SL11 will be another of London’s limited-stop services, and will replace (and run more regularly than) the current 472 bus, which follows a similar route.

The SL11 bus is set to run every six minutes during weekday and Saturday daytimes. And a new night bus (the N472) will take over the night shift, with services operating every half an hour. The new route will help support the recently-funded Thamesmead regeneration plans, and it will also improve links to the Elizabeth Line, DLR, London Underground and National Rail.

The launch of the SL11 comes following a public consultation that received rather glowing feedback. Over half of the respondents said that the new express service would be more convenient and would most likely improve their journey times.

The SL11 will now join London’s series of speedy Superloop buses; a network of services that have seen around 60 million passengers hop aboard since they launched. The Superloop network now spans 135 miles across the city, and there are still plenty more of these express routes in the pipeline.

Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London, said: “Replacing the 472 with this faster, more direct service will help to support early regeneration plans in Thamesmead and boost transport links in a historically under-served part of London.

“I’m also excited to say that TfL will be offering a week of free travel on the new Superloop service, so from 24 January to 30 January Londoners can give the SL11 a go and see for themselves how choosing this quicker bus can transform their everyday journeys.”