In a move to enhance public transport connectivity in southeast London, Transport for London (TfL) is launching a new express bus service, the SL11, linking Abbey Wood and North Greenwich. This Superloop route, set to debut on Saturday, will provide faster and more direct journeys, supporting regeneration plans in Thamesmeand.
The SL11 service will run as a limited-stop route via Thamesmead and Woolwich, cutting travel times and improving connections to the Elizabeth line, DLR, and London Underground. TfL says the new route will replace the daytime service on route 472, running more frequently at six-minute intervals on weekdays and Saturdays.
To encourage ridership during the launch week, TfL is offering free travel for pay-as-you-go customers between 24 and 30 January, though passengers must still touch in with an Oyster or contactless card.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan hailed the new service as a boon for an “historically under-served” part of the city. “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,” he said.
TfL’s director of buses, Lorna Murphy, echoed the mayor’s sentiments, stating the SL11 will improve connections between rail, Tube, and bus networks in southeast London. She encouraged passengers to take advantage of the free travel offer in the first week.
The launch of the SL11 follows a public consultation that showed strong support for the new route, with more than half of respondents saying it would be more convenient, and nearly two-thirds believing it would result in quicker journeys.
The SL11 is the latest addition to TfL’s Superloop network of express bus services around outer London, which the agency says has carried around 60 million passengers since its introduction. With the new route, the network will cover a total distance of 135 miles (218km).
While welcoming the new service, London TravelWatch, the statutory transport watchdog, cautioned that TfL must ensure any new routes do not come at the expense of existing ones, pledging to continue lobbying for robust bus services across the capital.
