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East Londoners, a new speedy bus route is coming to your ends. You may have spotted, back in March, the news that TfL was planning a new Superloop bus route on the outskirts of east London. Well, it arrives next week.
The new SL12, which will offer better links to the Underground, Overground and Elizabeth line between Ilford and Rainham, is ready to launch, and it’ll be free to ride for the first seven days. Ahead of its debut journey, here’s everything you need to know about the new Superloop bus route.
Where will the SL12 go?
New Superloop buses will travel between Gants Hill in Ilford and Ferry Lane in Rainham via Romford. It’ll trace the same route as the 66 between Gants Hill and Romford for part of its journey, before joining routes 165 and 372 in connecting Elm Park and Rainham.
The SL12’s arrival provides quicker access to the Elizabeth line in Romford as well as links to the District line at Elm Park, the Central line at Newbury Park and connections with Superloop route SL2 at Gants Hill.
When does the SL12 launch?
The first SL12 Superloop bus will set off on Saturday September 5.
Once it’s in service, the new route will operate from 5.30am and run all day until 12.30am at night every day of the week. From Mondays to Saturdays, buses will run every 12 minutes, slowing to every 15 minutes on Sundays.
When is the SL12 free to ride?
You’ll be able to hop on and off the new Superloop bus for free for the first week of service. Yep, you read that right, pay as you go fares will be free from 5.30am on September 5 until 11.59pm on September 11.
You’ll still have to touch in with a valid Oyster or contactless card, but you won’t be charged for the journey.
Full list of SL12 stops
- Gants Hill Station
- Horns Road (Eastbound) / Ley Street (Westbound)
- Newbury Park Station London Underground
- Barley Lane
- Eastern Avenue Padnall Road (Eastbound)/East Road (Westbound)
- Eastern Avenue West Mawney Road
- Western Road
- Romford Station
- Queen's Hospital Romford
- Elm Park Station
- Mungo Park Road Freebourne Gardens
- South End Road Ford Lane
- Cherry Tree Lane Dunedin Road
- Rainham Tesco
- Rainham Station South Side National Rail
- Ferry Lane Industrial Estate
Full list of London Superloop bus routes
TfL has been boosting the Big Smoke's transport links with express limited-stop routes since 2023 when the SL8 first launched. Since then, 10 more have followed in its tyre tracks, the last one being the SL11 between North Greenwich and Abbey Wood, which began running earlier this year.
Here's a list of all the Superloop buses currently operating across London.
- SL1 – North Finchley to Walthamstow Central
- SL2 – Walthamstow Central to North Woolwich
- SL3 – Thamesmead to Bromley
- SL4 – Canary Wharf to Grove Park
- SL5 – Bromley to Croydon
- SL6 – Russell Square to Croydon
- SL7 – Croydon to Heathrow Airport
- SL8 – Uxbridge to White City
- SL9 – Heathrow Airport to Harrow
- SL10 – Harrow to North Finchley
- SL11 – North Greenwich to Abbey Wood
- SL12 – Gants Hill to Rainham (from September 5)
- BL1 (Bakerloop) – Waterloo to Lewisham
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