London Buses route SL1 is a

Transport for London Transport for London (TfL) is a local government body responsible for most of the transport network in London, United Kingdom. TfL is the successor organization of the London Passenger Transport Board, which was established in 1933, and His ...

contracted Superloop express bus route in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England. Running between

North Finchley North Finchley is a suburb of London in the London Borough of Barnet, situated northwest of Charing Cross. North Finchley is centred on Tally Ho Corner, the junction of the roads to East Finchley, Church End, Friern Barnet and Whetstone. ...

and

Walthamstow Walthamstow ( or ) is a town within the London Borough of Waltham Forest in east London. The town borders Chingford to the north, Snaresbrook and South Woodford to the east, Leyton and Leytonstone to the south, and Tottenham to the west. At ...

bus stations, it is operated by

Arriva London Arriva London is a bus operator operating primarily in Greater London and partially in Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent and Surrey. It is a subsidiary of Arriva UK Bus and operates services for London Buses under contract to Transport for London. Oper ...

. The route partially parallels routes 34 and

221 __NOTOC__ Year 221 ( CCXXI) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Gratus and Vitellius (or, less frequently, year 974 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 221 ...

History

The route was first proposed by

in June 2023 as the second proposed new route in the Superloop network of orbital express bus routes. At the time of the consultation, the route was proposed to be numbered X34. It was proposed to partially parallel routes 34 and

. Having been renumbered SL1, it was introduced on 9 December 2023. It is operated by

as a variation to its route 34 contract that it parallels between

New Southgate New Southgate is a residential suburb straddling three Outer London Boroughs: a small part of the east of Barnet, a south-west corner of Enfield and in loosest definitions, based on nearest railway stations, a small northern corner of Haringe ...

and

. After a competitive tendering process, the contract was retained by

from November 2024 with the Alexander Dennis Enviro400H City to be replaced by brand new electric buses. According to internal TfL reliability metrics from July 2024, the route is performing well and better than the contractual minimum standards, with bus speeds in line with expected performance.

Current route

Route SL1 operates via these primary locations: * North Finchley bus station *

Friern Barnet Friern Barnet () is a suburban area within the London Borough of Barnet, north of Charing Cross. Its centre is formed by the busy intersection of Colney Hatch Lane (running north and south), Woodhouse Road (taking westbound traffic towards No ...

* Arnos Grove station *

Palmers Green Palmers Green is a suburban area and electoral ward in north London, England, within the London Borough of Enfield. It is located within the N13 postcode district, around north of Charing Cross. It is home to the largest population of Greek Cy ...

* Silver Street station * Meridian Water * South Chingford *

Walthamstow Market Walthamstow Market, in the London Borough of Waltham Forest, is the second longest outdoor market in Europe ( the longest one is Porta Portese in Rome, which is 2 km long ). It occupies all but the last of Walthamstow's High Street. It is rep ...

Walthamstow bus station Walthamstow Bus Station serves Walthamstow town centre in London Borough of Waltham Forest, Waltham Forest, London, England. The station is owned and maintained by Transport for London. The station can be accessed from both Selborne Road and Hig ...

''for

Walthamstow Central station Walthamstow Central () is an interchange station in Walthamstow, east London. It provides Victoria line services of the London Underground, of which it is the northern terminus; and Weaver line services on the Lea Valley lines of the London Ove ...

Operation

The route operates at a frequency of a bus every 12 minutes on weekdays and Saturdays and a bus every 15 minutes on Sundays.

Reception

Route SL1 has been criticised for not offering a direct link to North Middlesex University Hospital in

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

Former route SL1

From June 1996 until August 2002, a previous route SL1 ran in

Central London Central London is the innermost part of London, in England, spanning the City of London and several boroughs. Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local gove ...

connecting the mainline railway stations at

Paddington Paddington is an area in the City of Westminster, in central London, England. A medieval parish then a metropolitan borough of the County of London, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Paddington station, designed b ...

Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also ) is an area in London, England, and is located in the City of Westminster. It is in Central London and part of the West End. Oxford Street forms its southern boundary. An ancient parish and latterly a metropo ...

, Euston, St Pancras, King's Cross, Liverpool Street,

Fenchurch Street Fenchurch Street is a street in London, England, linking Aldgate at its eastern end with Lombard Street and Gracechurch Street in the west. It is a well-known thoroughfare in the City of London financial district and is the site of many cor ...

London Bridge The name "London Bridge" refers to several historic crossings that have spanned the River Thames between the City of London and Southwark in central London since Roman Britain, Roman times. The current crossing, which opened to traffic in 197 ...

Waterloo Waterloo most commonly refers to: * Battle of Waterloo, 1815 battle where Napoleon's French army was defeated by Anglo-allied and Prussian forces * Waterloo, Belgium Waterloo may also refer to: Other places Australia * Waterloo, New South Wale ...

and

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

.Enhancement of Accessible Bus Service Linking London's Mainline Railway Stations

London Regional Transport London Regional Transport (LRT) was the organisation responsible for most of the public transport network in London, England, between 1984 and 2000. In common with all London transport authorities from 1933 to 2000, the public name and operation ...

27 June 1996Latest service changes
Transport for London 31 August 2002 The route was operated by

Thorpes Thorpes was an English bus operator. It operated services under contract to Transport for London. History Thorpes was a coach operator that diversified into operating bus services under contract to Transport for London in the 1990s. Their Sta ...

and was branded as Stationlink, running an hourly (clockwise) circular service with route SL2 operating in the reverse direction. Both were replaced by routes 205 and 705 respectively in August 2002.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:SL1 Bus routes in London Transport in the London Borough of Enfield Transport in the London Borough of Waltham Forest London Superloop