Once again TfL have silently published their annual spreadsheet listing the number of passengers using every London bus route and how many kilometres those buses travelled. Data is for April 2024 - March 2025. Comparisons are with the previous year.
n.b. Because of leap years last year's data was for 53 weeks rather than the usual 52. I've tried to balance this out when making comparisons.
London's ten busiest bus routes (2024/25) 1) -- 18 Euston - Sudbury (12.1m) 2) -- 149 London Bridge - Edmonton Green (11.9m) 3) -- 29 Trafalgar Square - Wood Green (11.3m) 4) -- 207 White City - Southall (10.4m) 5) -- 86 Stratford - Romford (10.1m) 6) ↑1 5 Canning Town - Romford (10.1m) 7) ↑6 243 Waterloo - Wood Green (9.9m) 8) -- 279 Manor House - Waltham Cross (9.7m) 9) -- 36 Queens Park - New Cross Gate (9.7m) 10) ↑1 109 Brixton - Croydon (9.6m)
The next ten: 35, 25, 53, 141, 38, 55, 158, 182, 140, 43
For the sixth year running London's busiest bus is the 18, long-term plier of the Harrow Road. The runners-up remain two northern workhorses, the 149 and 29. The 207 is the all-stops version of Superloop service SL8 between Southall and White City. The 86 parallels Crossrail in east London but retains strong ridership (whereas the once-triumphant 25 has tumbled out of the Top 10). The 243 enters the top 10 after picking up displaced commuters from the withdrawn 521. The 109 is the busiest route entirely south of the Thames.
In news that may unnerve TfL's accountants, all of the top 10 routes have fewer passengers this year than last year. Before the pandemic thirteen bus routes managed to convey more than ten million passengers but now it's only six.
The next ten: U10, 146, 375, 209, 464, 467, 359, R2, 404, 379
These are all the usual suspects, topped off by a pair of brief turns in Barnet connecting daytime residents to the shops. The R5 and R10 operate the same route in rural Bromley but in opposite directions, and would be in 7th place if their totals were combined. Six of the top 10 are circular routes. Route 18 is busier than the forty-five least used buses put together.
n.b. Routes 347 and 549 were both withdrawn during the year. Technically they should be third and fourth on the list but I've placed them lower down in line with their average weekly figures. The two routes were merged into the 346 and W14 respectively, neither of which appear in the bottom 50.
London's ten most travelled bus routes (2024/25) 1) ↑6 SL7 Croydon - Heathrow (2,160,000 km) 2) ↓1 18 Euston - Sudbury (1,860,000 km) 3) ↓1 111 Kingston - Heathrow (1,830,000 km) 4) ↓1 5 Canning Town - Romford (1,810,000 km) 5) ↓1 86 Stratford - Romford (1,800,000 km) 6) -- 174 Harold Hill - Dagenham (1,740,000 km) 7) ↑1 102 Brent Cross - Edmonton (1,781,000 km) 8) ↓3 182 Brent Cross - Harrow Weald (1,730,000 km) 9) ↑10 SL8 White City - Uxbridge (1,710,000 km) 10) -- 53 Lambeth North - Plumstead (1,700,000 km)
The next ten: 96, 38, 466, 207, 229, 113, 65, 55, 36, 177
This is a list of the routes whose vehicles travelled the greatest distance in one year. Long distance buses (like the SL7 and 111) and high frequency buses (like the 18 and 86) tend to travel the furthest. We have a new winner in the SL7, the Superloop route that traverses 24 miles across southwest London. It doubled in frequency when it was rebranded from the X26, and now we have a full year of data it's way out in front. The 174 also had a frequency increase hence its arrival in the top 10. The 389 remains London's least travelled bus route, covering just over 8000km per year.
London's ten most crowded bus routes (2024/25) 1) -- W7 Finsbury Park - Muswell Hill (9.0 passengers per km) 2) ↑1 149 London Bridge - Edmonton (8.2) 3) ↓1 98 Holborn - Willesden (8.0) 4) ↑2 35 Shoreditch - Clapham Junction (8.0) 5) -- 29 Trafalgar Square - Wood Green (7.8) 6) ↑1 109 Brixton - Croydon (7.6) 7) ↑5 9 Aldwych - Hammersmith (7.5) 8) ↓4 238 Stratford - Barking (7.4) 9) ↑4 104 Stratford - Beckton (7.2) 10) ↓2 41 Archway - Tottenham Hale (7.1)
This Top 10 is determined by dividing the number of passengers by the number of km travelled to get a 'number of passengers per km'. The higher the number, the less likely it is you'll be able to find a seat. By this measure the most crowded bus is the W7 which, along with the 41, delivers residents of Muswell Hill and Crouch End to their nearest tube stations. Haringey is scoring highly here. The 195 is the most crowded single decker (5.2 passengers per km) so is arguably more crowded than some of these double deckers. Most London bus routes carry 2-5 passengers per km.
The next ten: 120, 69, 243, 58, 205, 32, 94, 279, 1, 24
Seven of these buses serve the rural fringes of Bromley, London's emptiest outlier.
The ten routes with the biggest increase in passengers: SL2, 439, S2, SL3, SL5, SL1, SL10, 346, W12, S4
The first seven of these are routes which started in 2023/24 so now have their first year of full data, whereas the 346, W12 and S4 have been significantly restructured. The two routes with the highest genuine increase in passengers are the 456 to Crews Hill and the P5 to Nine Elms, both up 15% on last year.
The ten routes with the biggest decrease in passengers: 470, W14, H14, W9, P12, 183, 34, 228, D7, 269
The 470 lost half its route to the S2 last year and also half its passengers. The W14 is what the runty 549 morphed into. The H14 suffered nine months of diversions due to gas-related roadworks. Both the 183 and 34 have lost passengers to parallel Superloop routes. The ten listed routes all lost more than 15% of their passengers last year.
Routes introduced between April 2024 and March 2025: 310 Routes withdrawn between April 2024 and March 2025: 549, 347, 118, 414, R6
More routes were lost than gained last year.
London's ten busiest nightbuses: N15, N25, N18, N207, N29, N279, N9, N8, N98, N140 London's ten least busy nightbuses: 486, 213, N33, 365, 85, 474, 321, N72, 158, 24
Passengerwise the N15 is 40% ahead of its nearest competitor, the N25.
London's ten busiest single deckers: 235, C10, 195, 170, 316, W15, 214, 366, 112, 33 London's ten least busy double deckers: 467, SL6, 481, 298, 412, 317, 498, 215, 492, 428
All those single deckers are busier than all those double deckers.
