The first Superloop bus route will launch on Saturday, Sadiq Khan has announced.
Buses on the limited-stop 607 between Uxbridge and White City will be rebranded – in the Superloop “retro” colours and roundel – as SL8.
Three other existing routes - the X140 and the X26 that both serve Heathrow and the X68, which links Croydon and Russell Square – will be also be renumbered and rebranded as Superloop routes this summer.
The Superloop network will have 10 routes – seven orbital outer London sections and three “spokes” connecting to central London.
Subject to consultation, five of the six new routes are due to be launched by next Spring, a month before the mayoral elections, leaving the proposed X239 to become the SL4 when the Silvertown tunnel opens in 2025.
Mr Khan, who is introducing the Superloop to offer a public transport alternative to drivers forced out of their cars by the imminent Ulez expansion, said: “The proposed Superloop will be a game-changer for travel around outer London, delivering quicker links to transport hubs, town centres, schools and hospitals.
“These new routes will help tackle our city’s toxic air and build a better, greener and cleaner London for all.”
Initially, the buses used on the route will be the same diesel-battery electric vehicles used on the existing express routes. Over time, fully electric buses will be introduced, linked to the tenders for the six brand new routes.
The mayor denied the Superloop was little more than a “paint job”. He said that four Superloop routes would be “up and running” by the time the Ulez is due to expand at the end of August.
Mr Khan was in Greenford on Friday to see one of the buses outside Metroline’s Greenford depot, but could not pose for media pictures with the bus, following TfL legal advice, because of the risk of been seen to prejudice the forthcoming Uxbridge parliamentary by-election.
“I have been on one,” he told the Standard. “It’s much more than a paint job. These are refurbed new buses, many of them - some of them will be electric before Spring. The one I was on, I managed to top up my phone.
“There is also improvements to commuters in terms of more frequency and extended hours.”
TfL’s chief operating officer Glyn Barton said the bus shelters were easier to identify with a distinctive Superloop “topper”. He said: “You can see it from a distance so you know where the express bus is going to stop and pick you up.
“It connects the town centres, which traditionally haven’t been as rapidly connected as they are with the Superloop.”
The SL8 route will initially be operated using Euro 6 low emission diesel buses. “The aim is we will transition all of the Superloop to be fully electric,” Mr Barton said. “We have a commitment to move to fully electric across our entire bus fleet.”
The Superloop routes are being numbered sequentially clockwise, from SL1 (North Finchley to Walthamstow) to SL10 (Harrow to North Finchley).
Consultations will launch on SL2, SL3 and SL5 this month. The Superloop will increase the size of the London bus network by one per cent.
The buses will have branded “priority seat” moquette seat covers, USB charging points and better on-board route information. Superloop trips will cost the same as a conventional London bus - £1.75.
However, Tory critics have dubbed the initiative the “Superflop”, claiming it will do little to mitigate the impact of the Greater London Ulez, which is due to start on August 29, subject to a ruling from the High Court.
One passenger waiting for the 607 bus told the Standard he was looking forward to using the Superloop - but complained that conections in Southall had been made poorer as a result of the re-routing of the 427 bus.
There is also concern about some of the proposed routes, with suburban areas such as Havering and Chingford being left out of the network.
Louise Cheeseman, director of buses at TfL, said: “The newly numbered and branded SL8 will provide people in outer London an instantly recognisable express bus route.”
