Reviewing South London's Newest Express Bus Route: The SL3

The SL3 is perhjaps my favourite Superloop route, introduced on the 24th of February 2024 to operate between Bromley North Station and Thamesmead Town Centre. This service passes through Bickley, Chislehurst, Sidcup, Bexleyheath and Abbey Wood, operating on an every 10-13 minute headway Monday to Friday using New Routemasters based out of Stagecoach London's Bromley Garage. In this video, I'll discuss the areas that the SL3 will pass through, the histories of the areas and whether or not I think the service will be successful or not (explaining the positives and negatives). If you like this video, make sure to like subscribe and share this video! Thanks for watching!
Copyright SomeNorthLondoner 2024

[@rodneymarshall755]

Very informative, thank you.

[@somenorthlondoner]

No problem! Glad you enjoyed it:)

[@ricktownend9144]

Very many thanks for this detailed commentary. I too think the SL3 is - overall - a good addition to SE London's transport. Like you, I'd like to see the 'loop' completed properly. I had a look at Google Maps for a journey Bexleyheath to Barking, and was encouraged to see that the quickest public transport journey did utilise the SL3 - but only to Abbey Wood, where you take the 'Liz' to Whitechapel! Maybe, in the medium term, the plan is to use the projected DLR extension to Thamesmead, hopefully with an interchange for the SL2 somewhere in Beckton. But till then, an SL3A from say Bexleyheath to the ferry south terminal should be quick to arrange - or maybe even going across on the ferry to the north side ... In the meantime, the quickest way to get from B'heath to Barking is by car - via the Dartford tunnel for heaven's sake!
Re Bickley, the train service there is now standard south-London miserable - two half-hourly services (Sevenoaks to Blackfriars, Orpington to Victoria) poorly combined - in fact the two eastbound trains each half-hour run only four minutes apart!
Look forward to your next video

[@somenorthlondoner]

Thank you so much! It is an excellent route yes, I do think the SL2 could be slightly better planned around the DLR extension once the DLR extension opens? It serves Gallions Reach, so I guess there’s the interchange.

[@nathanw9770]

Great video. I think the SL3 is so far the best Superloop route due to it's numerous links in South East London. I do agree it has a few problems though, some out of tfl's control, such as trees falling down lmao. I don't think a reroute via Knee Hill would be possible at present due to it's low trees but that could easily be fixed if Bexley council are allowed to trim them down. I think the SL3 could easily be extended to Woolwich Ferry by using the 472's new routing via the A2016 dual carriageway, maybe having a stop at Plumstead station. At the Bromley end it could terminate at Bromley South, Ringers Road where the 126 terminates, so that commuters from the SL5 and the surrounding area have multiple options to change onto the SL3 from.
To fix the problem of the LT's being too long I think it should swap allocations with the 261, which uses shorter E400MMC's, since the 261 is a pretty straight forward route I think LT's would suit it.
On a side note, when is the awkward routes series coming back? I have a few suggestions that I think would be interesting to cover such as the 389/399 which are londons least used bus routes (excluding the 969) and the 124 which might be Londons busiest midibus route.

[@somenorthlondoner]

Next Awkward Route coming tonight!

[@nathanw9770]

​@@somenorthlondoner Awesome! Can't wait to see what it is.

[@liveevil6386]

Another excellent Superloop video

[@somenorthlondoner]

Thanks! :)

[@eastlancsesteem]

Good route, but it needs to be rerouted/simplified in Bexleyheath and Abbey Wood. The New Routemasters need to be withdrawn asap. Extending it to Bromley South would be a nice addition to the route.

[@somenorthlondoner]

The NRMs aren’t great for the current routing but I’m not sure, they do look good in the Superloop livery! Maybe a look into extending it to the high street instead

[@eastlancsesteem]

I wish redevelopment was allowed in Chislehurst in the 60s.

[@somenorthlondoner]

Interesting, why’d you say that?

[@eastlancsesteem]

@@somenorthlondoner Because of a potential for more homes, especially for the homeless. Another potential would be leisure centres, restaurants, cinemas, schools, colleges, shops and stores. This means that Bromley commuters can go to a nearer town centre than Sidcup or Bexleyheath. This also means that the London borough of Bromley can make way more money.

[@eastlancsesteem]

@@somenorthlondoner To preserve nature, Chislehurst could just make a park/woods. Similar to Hyde Park but as a forest.