Yesterday TfL launched a consultation for the introduction of the next Superloop route, the SL13, which will run between Ealing and Hendon via the North Circular.
It's an express bus so it'll be great. It'll link up with existing transport connections and local centres so it'll be great. It'll create a fast orbital connection no train provides so it'll be great. But it'll also affect two bus existing routes, both negatively, including a deliberately unnecessary shafting of Ruislip.
» One end of the SL13 will be at Ealing Broadway station and the other at Hendon War Memorial.
» The War Memorial bit is ignorable, the terminus is essentially Hendon Central station but the bus has to turn round somewhere.
» The SL13 is essentially an express version of route 112 (with the Finchley end lopped off)
» The SL13 will link two existing Superloop routes - the SL8 and SL10.
» The SL13 will be the first all-zone-3 Superloop route (the original orbitals were generally 4/5) Verdict: great
» The single-decker 112 will be shadowed by the new faster SL13, both running at a 12-minute frequency.
» This is a reduction in frequency for the 112, down from every 10 minutes, so if you use any of the intermediate stops you're about to get a worse service. Verdict: expected
...and that would be all were it not for a lack of parking space.
» A lot of bus routes terminate around Haven Green outside Ealing Broadway station and there isn't room for another. This means one of them has to be booted out to make way for the SL13. Sorry Ruislip.
» TfL have chosen to boot out the E7, a route which runs through Greenford to Ruislip. Sorry Ruislip.
» The E7 will therefore be continuing three more stops along the Uxbridge Road, not quite as far as Ealing Common station, so buses can park and turn round. This will take a few minutes longer. Sorry Ruislip.
» The E7 is operated by 11 vehicles. To cope with the extended journey time TfL could pay for another vehicle or they could cut the route's frequency. Because they're skint, they've chosen to cut the route's frequency. Sorry Ruislip.
» The E7 will now run every 15 minutes rather than every 12 minutes, purely to save money. Sorry Ruislip.
» For three miles between the White Hart Roundabout and Ruislip the E7 is the sole bus route, but local residents of these outer suburbs will now see fewer buses. Sorry Ruislip.
» The SL13 and E7 will not overlap anywhere along their routes, but the introduction of one is screwing the other. Sorry Ruislip. Verdict: unnecessarily poor (sorry Ruislip)
If all goes to plan the SL13 will be introduced in Autumn next year.
For a laugh, here's how all-over-the-place the numbering of the Superloop routes now is.
» TfL have also just published the results of their consultation on Superloop route SL12. This will be introduced next year between Gants Hill and Rainham Ferry Lane. Only one significant change has been agreed, that buses will additionally stop at Rainham Tesco, which is so fundamentally sensible that it should have been part of the original plans. Like I said back in March, "if they don't add an additional stop at Rainham Tesco that would be lunacy".
» The SL11 (North Greenwich - Abbey Wood) is due to start in January.
» The BL1 'Bakerloop' (Waterloo - Lewisham) will be introduced on 27th September.
» Consultations for the SL14 (Stratford - Chingford Hatch) and SL15 (Clapham Junction - Eltham) are expected in the next few months.
