All the secret express bus routes that could supercharge your commute
Most London bus routes have bus stops every few hundred metres, because a comprehensive network requires us to be able to board and alight close to where we want to be. Sometimes stops can be further apart than we'd like, and occasionally a very long way apart, either because road conditions dictate or because there's no good reason to get on or off inbetween. If that gap ever gets up to a mile or more, there'd better be a jolly good reason.
So here's my attempt to list all the TfL bus routes with stops that are more than a mile apart.
» 2.5 miles482/490 Stirling Road → Heathrow Terminal 5
The longest stopless journey is around the southwest corner of Heathrow Airport. It's half a mile shorter in the opposite direction (thanks to one-way gyratories).
» 2.4 milesA10 Heathrow Central Bus Station → Stockley Road
The second-longest stopless journey is also at Heathrow, but this time from a grim roundabout near Stockley Park via the actual M4 motorway.
» 2.2 miles96/428 Darent Valley Hospital → Market Street & Darent Valley Hospital → Bluewater
The third longest stopless journeys are either side of Darent Valley Hospital, either fast to Dartford or spiralling down into the Bluewater shopping centre.
» 1.9 miles246 Chartwell → Westerham Green
This one's only on summer Sundays when the 246 is extended to the National Trust property at Chartwell via some seriously rural lanes.
» 1.7 miles108 East India Dock Road → Boord Street
The 108 can't stop in the Blackwall Tunnel, obviously, and southbound doesn't stop for a long way afterwards either.
» 1.6 milesR7 Bopeep Public House → Warren Road
This one's being withdrawn in two weeks time as the hamlet of Bopeep loses its bus service.
» 1.5 miles132 Wricklemarsh Road → Millennium Leisure Park East
This is an express lunge down the A102 dual carriageway from Kidbrooke to IKEA.
» 1.42 miles347 Wylie Veterinary Centre → Pages Lane
This one's on TfL's least frequent bus route in the lanes north of Upminster, and I rode it yesterday and it's what inspired this post.
» 1.41 miles464 Addington High School → Saltbox Hill
This is a scenic switchback between New Addington and Biggin Hill airport.
» 1.34 miles296 Mawney Road → Padnall Road
This is because nobody lives along the A12 between the Toby Carvery and Aldi.
» 1.29 miles492 Bluewater → Waterstone Park
This is Bluewater again, but via the northern approach.
» 1.28 miles499 Helmsdale Road → Broxhill Road
This is because nobody of consequence lives between Collier Row and Harold Hill.
» 1.27 miles372 Wennington Hall Farm → St Paul's Close
This is on the way to Aveley because TfL isn't paid to operate bus services in Thurrock.
» 1.26 miles66 Whalebone Lane North → Mawney Road
This is a bit shorter than the gap on the 296.
» 1.25 miles498 Petersfield Avenue → Holiday Inn
This crosses the M25 towards Brentwood, but eastbound only because westbound there's an intermediate stop.
» 1.24 miles331 Jackets Lane → Reservoir Road
This is speeding past a lot of woodland north of Ruislip Lido.
» 1.19 miles465 The Ridgeway → Givons Roundabout
This is whizzing out of Leatherhead on the way towards Mickleham and Box Hill.
» 1.09 miles313 Botany Bay → Roundhedge Way
This is a ridgetop ride through open county northwest of Enfield.
» 1.01 miles8 Roman Road Market → Bow Church
This pesky diversion via the A12 is thanks to the low railway bridge by Bow Bus Garage.
I haven't included Hail and Ride sections.
I've only included the longest gap on any particular route.
I haven't included express routes because they're shadowed by services that stop inbetween.
If I had included express routes then the X26 goes 5 miles without a stop between Hatton Cross and Teddington and the X68 skips just over 5 miles between West Norwood and Waterloo.
I'm aware that this list is probably both incomplete and incorrect.
