London: Superloop network brings more frequent buses

Route X26 between Heathrow and West Croydon was renamed to SL7 on Saturday

The latest phase of Transport for London's (TfL) fast service bus network has rolled-out.

The Superloop network is running a more frequent X26 route between Heathrow and West Croydon.

It was renamed as route SL7 on Saturday and now runs every 15 minutes.

Geoff Hobbs, director of Public Transport Planning at TfL said: "The main difference is that we'll be increasing the frequency.

"It starts at 04:00 BST in the morning right the way through to 01:00 at night."

The Superloop map

The route used to run a bus every 30 minutes. It will call at the same stops but some of the names have been changed to better reflect their locations, such as Wood Street, which will now be known as Kingston Wood Street, TfL said.

Mr Hobbs said that around 90% of people who live in outer London will be within one interchange of the Superloop.

"That means of course that they can use the Hopper Fare to transfer from one bus to another," he said.

• New bus service to link London's outer boroughs

Tim Leech, from Heathrow Airport, said that he welcomed the Superloop service, adding that bus routes are "vital" for staff and passengers heading to the airport.

The Superloop will include six new routes and also incorporate routes 607, X140 and X68 into its network. It aims to link many of the peripheral boroughs in London.

The Mayor of London said that the network "will be a gamechanger for travel around outer London".

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