The TfL Superloop bus route which will be a total odd one out

The upcoming Superloop bus network promises to transform bus travel in Outer London, with a series of 10 express bus routes providing fast orbital journeys in Zones 3 to 6. The majority (seven) of the routes will form a near-continuous 100 mile loop around Greater London, but there are three routes which will buck the trend – running “radially” instead. The odd three out are routes 607 (White City-Uxbridge), X68 (Russell Square-Croydon) and proposed route X239[1] which will use the new Silvertown Tunnel[2] when it opens in 2025.

It’s the middle of the three which is the total oddball though – as it works totally differently from the others. The X68[3] is a service primarily aimed at commuters, which was introduced in October 1986. Its main purpose is to provide 9 to 5ers who work in Zone 1 quick public transport option for their commutes, notably from Upper Norwood – a hilly suburban residential area where the nearest railway stations are over a mile away.

When completed in the coming few months and years, Superloop will look like this. New routes are subject to public consultation so may be amended. None will serve Old Kent Road, even though another proposal for the Silvertown Tunnel has been adopted. (Image: TfL)

As a result, the X68 operates in a very particular way.

In weekday morning peak hours buses run from Croydon[5] to Russell Square only, with the last bus arriving just before 10am. Then buses operate in the reverse direction from Russell Square to Croydon, with the first bus departing just before 4pm. There is no service on weekends or public holidays.

Essentially, this commuter route is part-time only, unlike the other nine Superloop components. The X68’s stopping pattern is also different to the other Superloop services. On the other routes, buses will skip stops along the parallel routes to serve the busiest points only.

This will aim to give the maximum number of people improved journey times. However, the X68 actually stops at every stop between Croydon and West Norwood before running non-stop to Waterloo and setting down only at the remaining stops to Russell Square. The reverse takes place on the return journeys, all stops to Waterloo, fast to West Norwood and then set-down only to Croydon.

The non-stop section between West Norwood and Waterloo provides the route with yet another quirky feature. As buses don’t have to stop in the five non-stop miles, controllers can send buses down one of two routes (via Camberwell or via Brixton) to speed up the journey. Depending on traffic, X68s can end up taking all sorts of routeings.

Despite all the quirks, TfL is not looking to standardise the service along with the other routes which will be grouped under the Superloop umbrella[6].

Route X68’s buses are shared with other bus routes so are unlikely to all get the full Superloop branding, but publicity at stops and its interchange with future routes X26 and X119 in Croydon will feature the distinct multi-coloured theme.

References

1. ^ proposed route X239 (www.mylondon.news)
2. ^ Silvertown Tunnel (www.mylondon.news)
3. ^ The X68 (tfl.gov.uk)
4. ^ TfL insists ‘life-expired’ Croydon trams are safe until 2028 but is urgently seeking funding to replace them (www.mylondon.news)
5. ^ Croydon (www.mylondon.news)
6. ^ under the Superloop umbrella (www.mylondon.news)