a) London's next dead bus(route 349)
n.b. not actually the next dead bus because the 283 is being withdrawn/renumbered in two weeks time.
There are too many buses on Caledonian Road, Seven Sisters Road and Tottenham High Road so TfL plan to trim some. In particular they've noted that "route 349 overlaps significantly with other services" so intend to withdraw it. The 349 runs between Ponders End and Stamford Hill and was introduced in 2004 to bolster services up the Tottenham High Road.
In mitigation the 279 will be diverted at its southern end to terminate at Stamford Hill, which is where the 349 currently stops. Existing passengers on route 349 can just catch the 279 instead, no issues. Existing 279 passengers intending to go all the way to Manor House can instead catch the 259 (which'll be easy because the two routes overlap a lot).
In mitigation the 259 will be extended at its northern end to terminate at Ponders End, which is where the 349 currently stops. However the southern end of the 259 will then be cut back, this time terminating at Holloway rather than King's Cross. Existing 259 passengers intending to go beyond Holloway can catch the 17 or 91 (but the overlap is poor and it'll be a pain). TfL reckon these changes will break 18% of journeys currently made on route 259 (but only 2% of journeys on route 279 and ½% on route 349).
This is my not very good map. I've included the 149, which isn't changing, because it overlaps the other three routes for three miles.
The 349's days are numbered. Some people will now face less convenient journeys and longer waits for a bus, but TfL are really only whipping away a nice-to-have rather than a necessity. The consultation ends 23rd January.
b) London's next new bus(route 10)
n.b. not actually the next new bus because the SL11, SL12, SL13, SL14, SL15 and 454 may be lined up first.
Routes 19 and 38 are stalwarts of the bus network, both longstanding high-frequency routes which overlap for three miles between Angel and Hyde Park Corner. It's time to shake them up, or more rightly cut them back and let a new route take up the slack.
Route 38 has been running from Victoria since 1912, its current northern terminus at Clapton Pond. The new plan is to lop off the southern end so that buses from Hackney terminate at Holborn, no longer passing through the West End, removing 2 miles through often slow traffic.
Route 19 has been running from Finsbury Park since 1934, its current southern terminus at Battersea Bridge. The new plan is to divert it at Hyde Park Corner to follow the abandoned section of route 38 to Victoria, no longer passing through Knightsbridge and Chelsea, removing 2 miles through often slow traffic.
Route 10 has been going spare since 2018 when the last bus with that number was withdrawn. Now TfL intend to resurrect it for a new route bolstering the central section of the other two routes. It'll start on the Balls Pond Road, shadow the current 38 all the way to Hyde Park Corner, then follow the abandoned section of route 19 to Battersea Bridge.
This is my not very good map. TfL have produced a geographic version if you'd prefer more detail.
It feels like sacrilege but essentially it's all about shortening routes so they're more reliable, which is very much TfL's favourite game of late. The consultation ends 23rd January.
c) Ranking the Superloop
TfL released its annual Travel in London report last week, packed with data about how Londoners get around (or increasingly don't). And in amongst all the serious stuff, on page 60, is this table showing how many passengers are using each of the Superloop routes.
The figures are for a typical autumn weekday and allow us to compare all ten Superloop routes for the first time. The most popular by far is the SL8 which runs along the Uxbridge Road. Next come the two Heathrow routes, the SL9 to Harrow and the SL7 to Croydon. It's probably no coincidence that all three were pre-existing express routes renumbered for the Superloop. The most popular new route is the SL10 from Harrow to North Finchley, completing a clean sweep for west London.
This may be clearer on a map.
Superloop routes out east are less well used, southeast London especially so. The SL5 from Bromley to Croydon is by far the least used of the regular routes, although this may be because it's also the shortest. It's no surprise to see the peak-hours one-direction-only SL6 at the bottom of the heap with an unimpressive 1600 passengers daily. Meanwhile the new SL4 through the Silvertown Tunnel takes a creditable 6th place, although this may have a lot to do with it being free at the moment.
