Month: April 2025
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Superloop SL6
Following my fairly pleasant experience on the SL5 last week, I decided to try out the SL6 this morning. I knew that the SL6 used to be the X68 and that it was one of the two express routes incorporated into the Superloop and that it runs from Croydon to the West End in the morning and returns in the afternoon. Yesterday I checked the schedules and also noted that the last departure from West Croydon bus station was at 08:30.
I checked London Bus Pal this morning around 07:45 and noticed that the next departure for the SL6 wasn’t showing, so I was already a bit concerned. I decided to take the second-to-last departure at 08:12, just in case the 08:30 doesn’t show. This is already concerning for the route – since it’s a low-frequency service, you want to be sure that the bus actually turns up.
From West Croydon
I arrived at West Croydon around 08:05 and stop B1 wasn’t very busy at all, only a few people were waiting. Shortly afterwards, I noticed that the bus (EE11) was turning in from Wellesley Road and I snapped a few pictures.
We boarded promptly, and I overheard a staff member saying to the driver that he was glad she turned up, as he hadn’t seen another SL6 for over 30 minutes. The driver just confirmed that this was her second “shift” for the day (looking at London Bus Pal, I could see that the bus also served the first departure of the day at 05:50, so I assume that’s the one she did). We set off a minute early at 08:11 and it only took us around 10 minutes to get to Crystal Palace. The bus was relatively empty when I boarded at West Croydon; however, I didn’t manage to get one of the front top seats (of the very few people who were waiting before me, they grabbed those seats first).
Even though I saw that there were a LOT of stops until we got to the express section which started from West Norwood – and it had me concerned that the ride would be painful, it seemed relatively quick and we were flying past several stops. There were a few timing stops in between, but it wasn’t much of a problem.
Once we got to Crystal Palace however, this changed a bit, and the bus stopped more frequently to pick up more and more passengers. There were some beautiful and breathtaking views of London from the top of Beulah Hill, but I couldn’t really take a picture quick enough. By the time we got to the West Norwood, the bus was relatively full with passengers having to sit next to others 😱!
Going express!
We arrived at the final stop before the start of the express section (Norwood Road / Robson Road) at 08:46 and we set off at 08:47 (this was two minutes earlier than timetabled).
This part of the journey was fairly uneventful, except that by the time we passed Brixton Station at 08:59, I started really regretting having 3 coffees this morning. I checked the timetable and it was another 26 minutes before the next stop – I was mostly just working and doing some other research at this time.
Final arrival
At 09:14, we were at Waterloo Station, but due to traffic and traffic lights, it wasn’t until 09:20 when I could get off (6 minutes earlier that timetabled and I was glad about it).
All in all, my experience was very different to my previous Superloop journey. The bus was super modern, comfortable and clean (it’s a double decker ADL Enviro 400 Electric Vehicle and even has some sun roofs).
Conclusion
If I were to improve this route, I would:
- Stop less frequency between West Croydon and West Norwood: this should allow the service to run a bit quicker (journey times wouldn’t really be impacted much for people at the intermediate stops as the bus stopped so frequently any way – just catch a “local” to the next express stop and join from there).
- Run all day: most people didn’t really seem to be office workers – if you aren’t going to be in London until 15:40, you would need to take a train or much slower local bus service to get back. It also seemed quite wasteful that a few SL6 branded buses were returning empty to Croydon. TfL could collect more fares by also running in service for the returns (and maybe just a few more during the day in both directions).
- Include a stop at Brixton Station: this would make it a viable and quick way into Central London and you can connect to pretty much anywhere since the Victoria line runs very frequently. I understand this would make the bus much more full, but isn’t this the point?
None of the stops were announced and I don’t know if this is because the driver didn’t sign in or if it is normal for the SL6. I wouldn’t really want to find out as it’s a long and arduous journey and it can be done much quicker using alternatives.
Some other useful information
The route is operated by Arriva London and 16 different buses have been used on this route in the last 7 days (12 of them appear to be branded for this route specifically). At average, there were between 3 and 5 buses out on the route at any one time. This is a weekday only service with buses heading from West Croydon to Russell Square in the mornings between 05:50 and 08:30 and then returning to Croydon between 15:40 and 18:50.
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Superloop SL5
Today I want to try something different and tell you about my experience on my first ever journey on the Superloop (I have taken the X26 before, but it wasn’t called the Superloop then). Please note that all of the information in here refers to my journey on 3 April 2025 and some things might have changed by the time you read this, London Bus Pal should always give you the latest information.
The purpose of my journey was two-fold: I wanted to see what the Superloop was about for myself, but also test London Bus Pal as I used to before to see where the gaps are. I have come home with a ton of improvements that I want to implement that I am sure would make a huge difference!
Journey 1: Croydon to Bromley North Station
Around 12:40 today, I arrived at Croydon Library bus stop with the next SL5 service to Bromley North Station being just 2 minutes away. The bus was a single-decker ADL Enviro 200 diesel bus (ENX14) and it left central Croydon with around a quarter of the seats still available. The first stop was East Croydon station and from here all the seats were taken with a few people standing for the journey.
After East Croydon, more people seemed to get on at Shirley Library and then we passed a really interesting looking McDonalds which is in an old pub building. It used to be called the Shirley Poppy and was one of the two most interesting things I saw on the journey. (I couldn’t take a picture of it, you’ll have to Google this one!)
After this, we continued through suburbia until we reached Bromley and then there was another really interesting building which caught my eye: St Mark’s Square. It’s a very unique and eye-catching building.
At the second-to-last stop (Elmfield Road / the Mall), most people seemed to have gotten off. I understood why this was when I got off at Bromley North Station, as there wasn’t much around and I headed back to the High Street.
All in all, I found it a pleasant and quick journey. The bus wasn’t super crowded, the traffic was light and we got from central Croydon to Bromley North in about 38 minutes.
About Bromley
I haven’t ever been to Bromley, but I found it to be a very pleasant area. Now that I have tried the SL5 route, I would seriously consider going to Bromley as an alternative to heading into Central London. Just on Monday I had to go and collect something from the Apple Store in Regent Street – I noticed that I could also collect from Bromley, but didn’t think it would be so easy to get to.
I was also very surprised to see that Bromley has an Ocean Basket! Ocean Basket is actually a South African restaurant chain which was started in my hometown of Pretoria. It was one of the highlights of my recent trip to South Africa and I am very glad to know that there is one that is easily reachable for me.
Unlike Croydon which in my opinion has really been suffering a lot with a lot of shop closures, patchy regeneration efforts and loads of derelict buildings, Bromley seemed vibrant and busy with loads of shops for everyone. I really liked Bromley.
(After taking some photos, I realised I was slightly harsh against Croydon – it actually also has a lot going for it – take Box Park for example, but there are also areas where the buildings are just standing completely empty!)
Journey 2: Bromley South to East Croydon Station
After spending a little bit of time exploring Bromley, I looked at the quickest way back to Croydon and the only real option was to take the SL5 bus again (all the other options would take over an hour!). I walked to Bromley South Station bus stop at around 14:10. This time, the bus stop was buzzing, mostly with school children. The bus arrived 3 minutes later and it was a push to get on – the same type of single decker as before, this one was ENX13. London buses have always struck me as fairly unique as it doesn’t matter whether you arrived at the bus stop first or last, when the bus arrives, you just get on as quickly as you possibly can.
Despite there clearly being way more passengers than seats, one kid actually tried to save both seats for himself by putting his leg on the seat next to him and when someone suggested he makes space so that someone can sit next to him, he just said “I’m not sitting next to her” and got up and decided to stand for the journey instead. I don’t understand this behaviour at all – how on earth did he think he was going to get away with having both seats when people were already shoving down the aisle.
We got on our way with nobody getting on or off at the next stop and only one person getting off at The Chinese Garage. I then noticed a sign for a school and I started dreading what was about to happen. When we pulled up to Langley Park School, the bus stop was buzzing again with lots of school children wanting to get on. Everyone still managed to get on, even though it was standing room only and I definitely noticed that these school children were much better behaved than the ones who got on in Bromley. I love just observing people and seeing their behaviour.
The rest of the ride was hot and uncomfortable. At one point I could see the Crystal Palace Transmitting Station in the distance and we passed the interesting McDonalds again. I actually suspected that most people would get off at East Croydon station, but by the time I got off, the bus was still quite full, although there weren’t as many people left standing when it headed off to the last stop in Croydon. It was just too hot on the bus and I was glad to be off it. I thought it was just because I was over-dressed, but as soon as we got off, I overheard someone else saying “the heat on that bus was so bad” – so it wasn’t just me. The total journey time on the way back was 26 minutes (starting from Bromley South station and getting off at East Croydon station).
Conclusion
All in all, I really like the Superloop (well, at least SL5) and how it connects Bromley and Croydon. It was a pretty quick journey that would take over an hour to achieve any other way. I will be using it again, but I would definitely avoid the school rush hours – I am just too old for that.
Some facts
At peak times, there are 10 buses which run on this route and it has 11 stops in each direction. There are a total of 12 buses which are used on this route and have the Superloop 5 branding. The total distance by road is 12.5km / 7.8 miles and the stops are on average spaced 1.1km / 0.7 miles apart.
The first buses depart each end at 5am and the last bus departs at 00:30 every day and during the day, buses depart every 11-13 minutes with a reduced frequency on Sundays only. The scheduled off-peak journey time is 32 minutes towards Bromley and 30 minutes towards Croydon.
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I am back!
Well, I wasn’t really ever gone to be honest, but I think it’s about time for an update of where I am.
My last post in 2020 was about adding functionality for bus enthusiasts and looking back and remembering where we were then, I feel proud of what I achieved with this functionality. Last year, I did an interview with Riku Fryderyk and it’s well worth a watch if you haven’t yet. Be sure to also check out the rest of their Youtube channel for some great videos related to transport.
The interview was done while I was in Bangkok as I went travelling for six months. We learn a lot from travelling and definitely a big lesson for me was how difficult it really is to work and travel at the same time. Firstly, there’s a balance to be found in between sitting down and working and going out and exploring new things. I found it hard to achieve this balance, because there’s a huge world to explore and only limited time. Then we layer on the time zone differences (I went from GMT +7 all the way to GMT -3), internet and connectivity in different countries, a laptop that was on the brink and constantly running out of space and the pressure of packing and unpacking, figuring out how to get to the next airport or just where to get your next meal. This is all to say that I really haven’t put as much effort into London Bus Pal as I could have, but I have no regrets either as I managed to really experience a lot in this time and from a personal point of view, I really needed a break.
In all of this time, I have had a few volunteers who have helped out with the app to allow me to focus on development work where I had the time. A huge shoutout and thanks to ThatWestLondonBusGuy, VT, c1taro and hdg for really keeping everything going.
I just arrived back in London a week ago and I have already done a ton of groundwork to continue the next chapter of London Bus Pal. There’s a lot of improvements coming and I am grateful that I can be back in this great city and use my own app again. I am energised, motivated and ready to go. The list of improvements is long, so please be patient as I slowly work through everything. I’m very confident that the London Bus Pal of six months from now will be a great improvement on what we have already today.
I will write some updates here from time to time (in fact, I’m literally going to write another post as soon as I post this one, so look out for it).