Tuesday, July 05, 2022
(more niche bus content disguised as clickbait)
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 miles 482/490 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 miles A10 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 miles 96/428 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 miles 246 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 miles 108 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 miles R7 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This one's being withdrawn in two weeks time as the hamlet of Bopeep loses its bus service.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 miles 132 Wricklemarsh Road → Millennium Leisure Park East
This is an express lunge down the A102 dual carriageway from Kidbrooke to IKEA.
» 1.42 miles 347 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 miles 464 Addington High School → Saltbox Hill
This is a scenic switchback between New Addington and Biggin Hill airport.
» 1.34 miles 296 Mawney Road → Padnall Road
This is because nobody lives along the A12 between the Toby Carvery and Aldi.
» 1.29 miles 492 Bluewater → Waterstone Park
This is Bluewater again, but via the northern approach.
» 1.28 miles 499 Helmsdale Road → Broxhill Road
This is because nobody of consequence lives between Collier Row and Harold Hill.
» 1.27 miles 372 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 miles 66 Whalebone Lane North → Mawney Road
This is a bit shorter than the gap on the 296.
» 1.25 miles 498 Petersfield Avenue → Holiday Inn
This crosses the M25 towards Brentwood, but eastbound only because westbound there's an intermediate stop.
» 1.24 miles 331 Jackets Lane → Reservoir Road
This is speeding past a lot of woodland north of Ruislip Lido.
» 1.19 miles 465 The Ridgeway → Givons Roundabout
This is whizzing out of Leatherhead on the way towards Mickleham and Box Hill.
» 1.09 miles 313 Botany Bay → Roundhedge Way
This is a ridgetop ride through open county northwest of Enfield.
» 1.01 miles 8 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.
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