{"id":1195128,"date":"2026-09-09T13:27:22","date_gmt":"2026-09-09T13:27:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1195128\/"},"modified":"2026-09-09T13:27:22","modified_gmt":"2026-09-09T13:27:22","slug":"outer-london-connectivity-still-not-good-enough-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1195128\/","title":{"rendered":"Outer London connectivity ‘still not good enough’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sadiq Khan has been urged to do more to improve public transport options for people travelling within and between outer London boroughs, reports Kumail Jaffer, Local Democracy Reporter<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"KeithKeith Prince (credit Kumail Jaffer\/LDRS)<\/p>\n

London still does not have good enough connectivity between outer boroughs to discourage car use, the mayor has been warned.<\/p>\n

Keith Prince, a Reform UK member of the London Assembly who sits on the body\u2019s transport committee, credits City Hall for boosting the capital\u2019s passenger capacity in recent years, especially with the introduction of the Elizabeth Line.<\/p>\n

But he says it\u2019s still too difficult for Londoners to travel between different points in outer London by public transport, suggesting an M25 bus and new Superloop that follows the route of the North Circular as solutions.<\/p>\n

Khan and Transport for London (TfL) resolved to solve the connectivity issue through an expansion of the Superloop network \u2013 first proposed in 2008 under Boris Johnson \u2013 to connect town centres and travel hubs in outer London.<\/p>\n

There are now twelve operational routes around London, including one launched between Gants Hill and Rainham earlier this month, and three more in the pipeline.<\/p>\n

However, Enfield Dispatch revealed in July<\/a> that TfL had ditched plans to introduce a Superloop route between Barnet and Stratford, via Enfield Town, Chingford and Walthamstow.<\/p>\n

And while Khan pledged to double the number of Superloop services from ten to 20 during the 2024 City Hall election campaign, current plans would only take the total to 15 routes.<\/p>\n

Prince says the mayor needs to be more radical if he wants to achieve his aim of ensuring 80% of journeys are taken via public transport or \u2018active travel\u2019 \u2013 walking or cycling \u2013 by 2041.<\/p>\n

At the Urban Transport Group fringe event at the Reform UK conference last weekend, Prince told attendees that London had many lessons for other major UK cities to learn from \u2013 such as the full transition to contactless payments and a joined up, simplified fare system \u2013 but suggested there was much room for improvement.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn London, we\u2019ve got capacity sorted \u2013 the Elizabeth Line was the last big jump, really, and that has made journeys much quicker and easier,\u201d he told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) after appearing on an urban transport panel at Reform UK\u2019s annual conference in Birmingham last week.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe challenge now, and what the Mayor has tried to do with the Superloop, is boost connectivity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Citing his own borough of Havering, where he leads the council, he said a journey into central London was far easier than a shorter trip from the north to the south of the area, and said the new SL12 Superloop route doesn\u2019t go far enough to solve this.<\/p>\n

Instead, he said, City Hall should pioneer an \u201cinternal orbital bus\u201d that runs around the North Circular and an express bus on the M25 that meets with local bus services just off the motorway.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat way you\u2019ll be able to get to where you want to go a lot, lot quicker,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes I go to Lewisham and places like that by public transport, it\u2019s horrendous \u2013 what would be a 45-minute car journey can turn into a two-hour transport journey.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you want to encourage people to do things, it\u2019s if you\u2019ve got the services that people need and want, then they will use them. But if you don\u2019t, they\u2019re still going to want to use their cars, otherwise it just makes life a lot more difficult. It makes a lot more congestion.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor example, the decision to introduce a whole load of low-traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs). What used to be a five-minute drive to the local Screwfix turned into 45 minutes in the car \u2013 and there was no bus service, so I was on the road nine times more than I would have been before the LTNs, causing more pollution.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven the 20mph limits, in my opinion, means people are in their cars for longer.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese restrictions don\u2019t stop people using their vehicles \u2013 it just means there\u2019s more pollution as a result.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said he had relayed such issues to the party\u2019s London mayoral candidate, Laila Cunningham, adding: \u201cI\u2019ve had lots of chats with Laila about transport and she\u2019s very switched on. And I tell you, the one thing that she will do, that this mayor has absolutely, massively failed on, is she\u2019ll get London moving.<\/p>\n

\u201cLondon traffic now has come down to a halt. You can almost walk quicker and you can certainly jog quicker than a London bus \u2013 that really has to be dealt with.\u201d<\/p>\n

A TfL spokesperson said: \u201cWe are committed to providing a comprehensive, reliable bus service across the breadth of London and keep the network under constant review to ensure we invest our resources where they are needed most.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe mayor has previously outlined plans for further Superloop routes which operate across London, and we continue work to look at implementing them in the future.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn relation to the M25, given that it is a multi-lane motorway with a national speed limit, it would not be suitable for scheduled bus services to operate on.\u201d<\/p>\n

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