I was on the first Transport for London (TfL) Superloop route SL4 bus from Grove Park to Canary Wharf

by HighburyAndIslington

9 comments

  1. This looks like the old 607 when it had a different livery….

  2. I hopped on one yesterday and my mind was blown that it was free! They’re nice inside.

  3. At 05:00 on Monday, 7 April 2025, I joined many other bus enthusiasts and boarded the first Superloop route SL4 [1] bus from Grove Park to Canary Wharf. The bus was EBD56, registration number LF74 TVT, a BYD BD11 battery-electric double-decker bus with Go-Ahead London Blue Triangle. It departed on time and arrived slightly early at Canary Wharf at 05:37.

    In 2022, TfL introduced proposals for a new cross-river bus network as part of the new Silvertown Tunnel [2]. These proposals included a new express bus route, X239, running between Grove Park and Canary Wharf and an extension of route 129 from North Greenwich to Gallions Reach, Great Eastern Quay. TfL also proposed a cycle shuttle bus service through the tunnel [3]. These proposals have been realised mostly as initially proposed, except for renumbering route X239 to SL4 as part of the Superloop bus network.

    Route SL4 runs from Grove Park station to Canary Wharf over a distance of 7 miles (11 km) daily from 05:00 to 01:34 [4], every eight minutes Monday to Friday daytimes, every 15 minutes weekend daytimes and all evenings and every 20 minutes early weekend mornings [1], with a peak vehicle requirement of 18 buses [4]. Journeys are timetabled to take anywhere from 35 minutes in the late evening to an hour during peak times. The SL4 differs from most other Superloop routes in that it serves all bus stops besides a non-stop section through the tunnel between Sun in the Sands roundabout and Leamouth. Route SL4 will be rerouted via Wood Wharf when that becomes accessible, which is likely to happen in 2027 [2].

    In addition to route 108, which continues to run through the Blackwall Tunnel, and two sections of the Docklands Light Railway between Greenwich or Cutty Sark and Island Gardens and between Woolwich Arsenal and King George V, routes SL4 and 129 are free for at least one year after the tunnel’s opening [2]. Passengers must still touch in as usual. I took videos of the first SL4 bus journey from Grove Park to Canary Wharf [5], the first bus journey from Canary Wharf to Grove Park [6], journeys on the SL4 throughout the first day of operation [7][8][9][10], and a journey on the 129 from Lewisham to Gallions Reach on the first day [11].

    [1] https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/buses/silvertown-tunnel-bus-changes

    [2] https://haveyoursay.tfl.gov.uk/silvertown-tunnel-bus-network

    [3] https://haveyoursay.tfl.gov.uk/silvertown-cycling-service

    [4] https://bus-routes-in-london.fandom.com/wiki/London_Buses_route_SL4

    [5] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkODm4W6cg0

    [6] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmO7vRr3lXo

    [7] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hzuqmnf8pAU

    [8] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wF_RX2A_-a4

    [9] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OH60lha9Lw4

    [10] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4bcGcf-aoc

    [11] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zGuqj8qRzQ

  4. This doesn’t even start or end at Grove Park. You have to walk like 300m to get connecting buses. Would be way more useful if it went to Bromley North and connected to the Bromley SL buses.

  6. Unlike a lot of other Superloop buses, it does tend to stop at a *lot* of “normal” stops, especially with of the river. It’s not very expressy which harms the journey time.

  8. Grove Park of all places. They might at least extended to Bromley.

  9. It’s way too slow to be considered a superloop route. Why does it stop everywhere?

Comments are closed.