LOOPING THE LONDON SUPERLOOP
Part Two: North
13 April 2024
ABOVE: Arriva London HA 43 (LK66 HBN), an ADL Enviro400H City, has just completed the journey from North Woolwich on route SL2 when seen in Walthamstow Central. All photos in this article taken on Sunday 7 April, unless otherwise stated.
Revisit Part One: Heathrow Airport - Croydon - Bromley North - Thamesmead
I am broadly half-way around an anti-clockwise circuit of the Transport for London (TfL) Superloop:
ABOVE: A broad approximation of the Superloop network / the route taken. Superloop routes SL4, SL6 & SL8 are not part of the main circuit and are not included.
Having reached Thamesmead, I have crossed the river, via the Docklands Light Railway, and am now at North Woolwich. As I arrive at the bus stop, I restart the clock at 1231, exactly 40 minutes after I got off the bus in Thamesmead.
ABOVE: Arriva London HA 53 (LK66 HCE), an ADL Enviro400H City, crosses the Bascule Bridge, near London City Airport, near the end of a journey on route SL2 from Walthamstow.
SL2: North Woolwich to Walthamstow Central
Operator: Arriva London
Vehicle Type: ADL Enviro400H City
Approximate length: 12 miles
Scheduled journey: 1241-1352
Actual journey: 1240-1344*
Previous service number: None (new route)
* Meets route SL1 at Walthamstow, Hoe Street / Bell Corner (we pass at 1339)
The SL2 is the one that wasn't ready. Watch any of the dozen or so "launch videos" on YouTube, filmed on the first day (Saturday 2 March 2024), and you will see that about half of the buses are not yet in Superloop livery, and NONE of them have destination blinds. Not the most auspicious way to complete the launch of the Loop - it probably explains why there was so little publicity compared to the SL3 launch the previous week.
This is also the one I am the most concerned about. Bloggers and fora commentators alike have been suggesting that this service is unreliable, and my first attempt to ride it to North Woolwich from Barking, a few weeks earlier, failed when the driver in Barking couldn't say for sure whether he was going any further or not...
So it's quite reassuring to turn the corner on the Pier Road in North Woolwich to find two buses parked up.
ABOVE: A pair of ADL Enviro400H Cities, dwarfed by the development of new riverside homes. Arriva London HA 43 (LK66 HBN, left) and HA 38 (LK66 HBF, right), stand at North Woolwich awaiting departures on the SL2 to Walthamstow. The circular building is the entrance to the Woolwich Foot Tunnel across the river (the river itself is just out of view to the left).
It's only 20 minutes since I was in Woolwich, but the north side of the river feels like a world away (much quieter for a start)! And we're certainly about to head into very different territory on the SL2 to that we have left behind on the SL3.
The vehicles seem to be getting more modern as I progress around the circuit. After 61-reg Volvos and even older Enviro200s (and the retro-looking and tired New Routemasters), I am now boarding a 66-reg ADL Enviro400H City.
We may have crossed the Thames, but we still have some water to traverse, via the Bascule Bridge and the Sir Steve Redgrave Bridge. These bridges take us across the entry to a couple of the old Docks, and allow a magnificent view of London City Airport.
ABOVE: Looking westwards from Bascule Bridge towards the Canary Wharf towers, in the distance and, right, London City Airport's runway.
Once out of the Docklands we join a dual-carriageway which is the very start of the A406 North Circular Road; this provides a semi-circular trunk route around the northern half of London and will be close at hand for some miles to come.
We leave the North Circular to call into Barking. We're now in the heart of East London. With its narrow and crowded built-up streets, and small houses and flats, the contrast with the likes of Chislehurst and Thamesmead earlier could not be starker.
ABOVE: A trio of ADL Enviro400s in Longbridge Road, Barking, not far from Barking station. On the left, Stagecoach London 19784 (LG11 BGV) works route 169 (Barking to Clayhall), whilst fellow Stagecoach London vehicle 10106 (LX12 DBZ) is awaiting the start of another journey on the extremely busy 238 to Stratford.
The one-mile long Ilford Lane, which links Barking to Ilford, is a slog, even for an Express service. Heavy traffic is nose-to-tail in both directions, parking (both legal and illegal) adds to the congestion, and the best part of 40 side roads create conflicting traffic movements all over the shop; not to mention people leaping between vehicles to cross the road. Even an emergency Police vehicle trying to head the other way can't do it much faster than we can!
The curious thing is that there are several bus stops along the road, all of which have several waiting passengers who cannot take advantage of the express service. It shows what a fine line there is between providing a swift journey and serving busy stops in between.
And so to Ilford itself. Served by the Shenfield branch of the Elizabeth Line, I could have got here in a fraction of the circa five hours my trip has so far taken!
ABOVE: An ADL Enviro400 on route 86 (Romford to Stratford) and an Enviro200 on route W19 (Ilford to Walthamstow) traverse Chapel Road in Ilford Town Centre.
A mile or so on from Ilford is Gants Hill, the centre of which appears to be a large five-way roundabout. The trunk A12 passes through this junction on its way to Ipswich. After this, the SL2 joins the A1400 Southend Road, another dual-carriageway, which takes us to Charlie Brown's Roundabout.
This is named after a pub that once stood in the vicinity, and is where the North Circular Road, the A113, the A1400 and the M11 motorway all meet / pass. There is a multitude of flyovers to help carry the various flows around. The picture below might give you a flavour, but have a look at this map to get a greater feel for the complexity of the junction.
ABOVE: At least three separate flyovers can be seen in this view of Charlie Brown's Roundabout, looking broadly west. The parallel stopping service over this stretch of the SL2 is the 123 (Wood Green to Ilford), and VDL DB300 Wright Gemini 2s, such as the one on the right, form much of the daily allocation on this Arriva London service.
I dread to think what this area might be like in the rush hour!
We somehow manage to work our way across to the A406. In the right conditions (and today isn't too bad), this dual-carriageway of up to five lanes each way can be a really fast stretch of the SL2. In heavy traffic, it must be a route controller's nightmare.
ABOVE: Another SL2 towards North Woolwich can just be seen in the distance, passing under South Woodford High Road, a not-insignificant road in itself, if dwarfed by this 10-lane highway.
After a bit of the North Circular, we're pulling off again to head into Walthamstow. And it's here that we come to one of the points of the circuit where we need to clarify the "rules". The SL1, that we shall travel on soon, meets the SL2 at the Hoe Street / Bell Corner junction on the outskirts of Walthamstow, and both routes run together along the three-quarters-of-a-mile to Walthamstow Central. So does one need to go into Walthamstow Central in order to say one has completed the Superloop?
ABOVE: Arriva London HA 6 (LK65 BZC), another ADL Enviro400H City, in Hoe Street, Walthamstow on the section of route SL1 that is duplicated by the SL2.
For the purposes of doing the circuit, I would say no. For the purposes of a tea and comfort break, it may be a different story, so I sit tight for an extra five minutes and reach Walthamstow Central at 1344, eight minutes early.
ABOVE: HA 12 (LK65 BYN), an ADL Enviro400H City badged here as HA 012, passes the Arnos Grove Swimming Pool stop on Bowes Road on Monday 1 January 2024.
SL1: Walthamstow Central to North Finchley
Operator: Arriva London
Vehicle Type: ADL Enviro400H City
Approximate length: nine miles
Scheduled journey: 1420-1510
Actual journey: 1420-1459
Previous service number: None (new route)
* Meets route SL2 at Walthamstow, Hoe Street / Bell Corner (we pass at 1424)
Back-tracking briefly on the journey we have just taken on the SL2, the SL1 heads back to Hoe Street, Walthamstow, before branching out in a different direction - back towards the North Circular Road.
Just before we get there, we stumble across the last remnants of the old Walthamstow London Transport bus garage (and previously tram depot). This grand building, on Omnibus Way, is all that remains, but have a look here to see what it once looked like.
The SL1 takes me back to the North Circular, a fair bit of which is elevated at this point.
ABOVE: Near the Cooks Ferry roundabout on the edge of Edmonton
One of the problems of an Express service in this sort of territory is demonstrated as we head towards Palmers Green. Local buses, including the 34 (the equivalent stopping service at this point) take a slight detour at Silver Street station, to run via Silver Street itself, to the north of the main road. They then traverse the Great Cambridge Junction roundabout (from where the A10 trunk road will take you to Cambridge). The SL1 needs to do neither of these manoeuvres, and look what happens...
ABOVE: My SL1 passes under the Great Cambridge Junction roundabout as a Volvo B5LH Wright Eclipse Gemini 3 on route 34 (Walthamstow Central to Barnet) comes out of its Silver Street detour prior to re-joining the main road after the underpass.
We get stuck in traffic (there's always a queue before the Palmers Green junction). The slip road from the left, which is currently empty, brings traffic down from the Great Cambridge Junction roundabout, and I'm amazed that the 34 I photographed a moment earlier doesn't pass us on this stretch. I wonder if SL1 drivers are allowed to use their judgement as to whether it's better to stick to the underpass or pull off and use the roundabout and the slip road? They should be!
ABOVE: The traffic queue after the underpass in the previous picture, with the free-flowing slip road to the left.
The SL1 is one of the quicker runs of the day, but again feels like one of those that could be a very different story of the traffic is bad.
There's one final treat on this leg of the journey - Princess Park Manor. Built as a psychiatric hospital in the 19th Century, the foundation stone was laid by Prince Albert in 1849 and the building was opened as the Colney Hatch Lunatic Asylum in 1850. It became the Friern Hospital but was closed in 1993. Like so many historical buildings, it is now a luxury flat development and is said to be popular with pop stars and footballers.
ABOVE: Princess Park Manor, Friern Barnet
This has been a fairly quiet run, despite the fact that the bus in front of this one had broken down at Hoe Street and everyone had had to transfer to mine (and I only missed that bus by moments - silver linings)! It hasn't felt especially hurried, but, despite that, we are 11 minutes ahead of our scheduled arrival at North Finchley.
There's a one-stop overlap, in this direction only, with the next link in the chain, so I decide to get off at the Woodhouse Road stop, just before the junction at the centre of North Finchley.
ABOVE: RATP London Sovereign BCE 47088 (LG71 DWC), a BYD D8UR-DD ADL Enviro400EV, is seen in Station Road Hendon on Bank Holiday Monday 1 January 2024.
SL10: North Finchley to Harrow Bus Station
Operator: RATP London Sovereign
Vehicle Type: BYD D8UR-DD ADL Enviro400EV
Approximate length: nine miles
Scheduled journey: 1510-1606
Actual journey: 1510-1606
Previous service number: None (new route)
The early arrival of the SL1 into North Finchley just gives me a longer wait for the SL10, although by rights I should have missed the 1510 departure altogether!
At last the vehicles on this most modern manifestation of gimmicky marketing are suitably modern, comprising of BYD D8UR-DD ADL Enviro400EV electrics. We start with a trip through the ghastly North Finchley bus station where, even on a decent spring afternoon, the "Night" setting on the camera is the only way to get an even half-decent picture, although it is questionable why I want a picture of such a dark and unwelcoming place...
ABOVE: North Finchley bus station, with an SL1 (possibly the one I left a few minutes earlier) on layover.
There's a lady in the opposite seat to me who was also on the SL1, all the way from Hoe Street, Walthamstow. Is she doing the Superloop?
This is a fairly quiet run through the North West suburbs of London. We have the strange situation of the SL10 running the opposite way down Brent Street in Hendon to the 'stopping' service on this stretch, the 183 (Golders Green to Harrow) - just a quirk of the respective routings, with the 183 effectively doing three sides of a square.
ABOVE: A view of the Edgware Road in Hendon. On the right is a route 83 bus (Alperton to Golders Green), and there's a 183 (and something else) in front of us.
The most striking structure on this route is the Shree Swaminarayan Mandir in Kingsbury, a Hindu Temple:
Further along, Kingsbury Road in the centre of Kingsbury is its normal congested self:
ABOVE: Metroline WDE 2793 (LV23 DJJ), a Wright StreetDeck Electroliner, heads for Edgware on route 204 from Sudbury Town.
This quiet run ends in Harrow at exactly the scheduled time of 1606. My next bus is just visible in the bus station, but it will transpire that there's no rush.
ABOVE: Harrow bus station
ABOVE: RATP London Sovereign BCE 47101 (LG71 DUV), another BYD D8UR-DD ADL Enviro400EV, heads through South Harrow on route SL9 on Saturday 16 March 2024.
SL9: Harrow Bus Station to Heathrow Airport Central
Operator: RATP London Sovereign
Vehicle Type: BYD D8UR-DD ADL Enviro400EV
Approximate length: 10 miles
Scheduled journey: 1618-1710
Actual journey: 1620-1706
Previous service number: X140
So here I am, embarking on the last leg of the journey. The SL9 was already established as the X140, which began in 2019 as an Express version of the 140 (now Harrow Weald to Hayes & Harlington), when the latter was cut back from Heathrow Airport. The X140 became the SL9 in August 2023.
ABOVE: Metroline VWH 2188 (LK16 DGZ), a Volvo B5LH Wright Eclipse Gemini 3, loads up at Harrow Bus Station for a journey to Brent Cross on route 182, whilst behind it, RATP London Sovereign ADE 40409 (YX12 FNP), an ADL Enviro400, is heading for South Harrow on route 258. Picture taken on Saturday 16 March 2024.
Of all the routes we have covered today, this is the one I know the best. It's a fair wait (must have just missed one). The stopping 140 service comes along a few minutes before the SL9 and clears a fair chunk of the queue, including the lady who has been following me ever since Walthamstow!
There's still a good crowd built up again by the time the SL9 comes round from the stand, and it's two minutes late by the time it has loaded up and started out. This is another electric bus (another BYD D8UR-DD ADL Enviro400EV) and runs very smoothly. Despite being an airport service, and unlike the SL7, there are no additional luggage racks. This route is much more about intermediate passengers than the SL7 - the Airport is a bit of an add-on.
A couple of people have been on the bus when it comes round and are presumably family to the driver. He stops right on a zebra crossing, outside Waitrose in South Harrow, to let them off. This doesn't feel very safe and certainly isn't in the Highway Code (actually it is in the Highway Code - as something you must not do!
ABOVE: RATP London Sovereign BCE 47084 (LE21 FTF) is another BYD D8UR-DD ADL Enviro400EV. It is seen at Northolt Station on Saturday 16 March 2024. On the left is Metroline VWH 2135 (LK65 EBU), a Volvo B5LH Wright Eclipse Gemini 3, about to take up service on route 120 (Northolt to Hounslow).
There's a big crowd at Hayes & Harlington station, but they don't want the SL9. They're heading for the train (Elizabeth Line again), as it's the only way into Southall (the next stop down the line) due to a Festival having closed all the roads. It's just a few minutes from Heathrow Airport to Hayes & Harlington on the train, but I have spent almost nine hours getting here - very much the long way round!
ABOVE: Hayes & Harlington station, with entrances to either side of the buildings in the foreground. The Clock Tower pays tribute to Sound Engineer Alan Dower Blumlein. Blumlein, whose ground-breaking work at EMI in Hayes revolutionised audio recording techniques, paved the way for stereo sound in the music and film industry.
The SL9 has been busy all the way, and only really quietens down on the last stretch towards Heathrow Airport. We're back to the one-third size Airbus A380 at the entrance to the tunnel into the airport:
The SL9 drops me off at Heathrow Airport's Central Bus Station at 1706, four minutes ahead of schedule. And my circuit of the Superloop has come to an end.
ABOVE: RATP London Sovereign BCE 47100 (LG71 DUU) at Heathrow Central Bus Station
So how long did it take to do the Superloop?
Depends how you measure it. There's no dispute that I was away from Heathrow Airport for nine hours and 10 minutes, so that's how long it took. But do I count the 40 minutes it took me to get from Thamesmead to North Woolwich? Geoff Marshall didn't when he did the loop - see his video here. He did the loop in nine hours exactly, but he started in Thamesmead and finished in North Woolwich - he didn't go back to Thamesmead.
Do I stop the clock for the two essential breaks I took in Bromley and Walthamstow? Between them they account for 56 minutes away. And that is with re-starting the clock again when I return to the stop, rather than when I step onto the next bus.
And what about that trek into Walthamstow? I reached Hoe Street on the SL2 at 1339 - do the five minutes after that, and the four minutes back, count? And what about waiting times for buses?
Let's bring it back to the "rules". I think the rules for doing a circuit of the Superloop in one go should be along the following lines:
On this basis, my journey was as follows:
So I am claiming that my Superloop journey took SEVEN HOURS AND 25 MINUTES. Not bad for 85 miles around London!
Would I do it again? Definitely, but maybe next time I'll try broadly the same trip using only normal stopping services... I'll let you know how long it takes!
- Start anywhere you like, at any time of the day or week, and go whichever way round you like.
- Clock starts when your first bus pulls out.
- Time between buses (ie, waiting time) counts, except for the first bus of the circuit.
- If you take a break, stop the clock when you get off the bus and restart it when you return to the bus stop (ie, not when you board the next bus - waiting time counts).
- Stop the clock when you get off the SL2 in North Woolwich (if going clockwise), and restart it when you arrive at the SL3 stop in Thamesmead. The reverse applies if going anti-clockwise. Not applicable if you actually start at Thamesmead and finish at North Woolwich or vice versa.
- If you go through to Walthamstow Central on the SL1 or SL2, stop the clock when you pass the relevant stop at Hoe Street / Bell Corner and restart when you pass the appropriate stop again. But the waiting time at Walthamstow Central needs to be added on to the time.
- If you go to Park Street, Croydon on the SL5, and / or to West Croydon bus station on the SL7, stop the clock at East Croydon station and restart when you leave East Croydon again. But the waiting time at West Croydon or Park Street needs to be added on to the time.
- Clock stops as you step off the last bus.
On this basis, my journey was as follows:
- Started at Heathrow 0756
- Arrived at Bromley North at 1011 .......................................................... Journey time 2-15
- REFRESHMENT BREAK (0-31 not counted)
- Returned to Bromley North stop at 1042
- Arrived at Thamesmead at 1151 .............................................................................................. 1-09
- TRANSFER TO NORTH WOOLWICH (0-40 not counted)
- Arrived at North Woolwich stop at 1231
- Passed Hoe Street at 1339 .......................................................................................................... 1-08
- Arrived at Walthamstow Central at 1344 (0-05 not counted)
- REFRESHMENT BREAK (0-25 not counted)
- Returned to bus station stop at 1409
- Boarded SL1 at 1420 .......................................................................................................................... 0-11
- Passed Hoe Street at 1424 (0-04 not counted)
- Arrived at Heathrow at 1706 ....................................................................................................... 2-42
So I am claiming that my Superloop journey took SEVEN HOURS AND 25 MINUTES. Not bad for 85 miles around London!
Would I do it again? Definitely, but maybe next time I'll try broadly the same trip using only normal stopping services... I'll let you know how long it takes!
ABOVE: North Finchley, Bank Holiday Monday 1 January 2024. I have just left the SL10 in front and jumped straight onto an SL1!