London Buses route SL3 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

Thamesmead Thamesmead () is an area of south-east London, England, straddling the border between the Royal Borough of Greenwich and the London Borough of Bexley. It is located east of Charing Cross, north-east of Woolwich and west of Erith. It mainly c ...

and Bromley North station, it is operated by

Stagecoach London Stagecoach London is a major bus operator in Greater London. It is a subsidiary of Stagecoach and operates services under contract to Transport for London mostly in East and South East London, as well as some services running into Central Londo ...

subsidiary

Selkent South East London & Kent Bus Company Limited, trading as Stagecoach London, is a bus company operating in central and south London and some parts of north-west Kent. The Selkent brand is a subsidiary of Stagecoach London and operates services und ...

. The route partially parallels routes

269 Year 269 ( CCLXIX) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Claudius and Paternus (or, less frequently, year 1022 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 269 for this ...

and 301.

History

On 21 July 2023, a consultation for route SL3 was opened by

, and closed on 4 September the same year. The route parallels part of route 301 between

and

Bexleyheath Bexleyheath is a town in southeast London, England, in the London Borough of Bexley. It had a population of approximately 15,600 in 2021 and is southeast of Charing Cross. It is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in London ...

, and part of route 269 between Bexleyheath Shopping Centre and Bromley North station. Route SL3 was awarded to

on 20 October. TfL claimed that 67% of the feedback it received reflected that route SL3 would make their journeys more convenient, and 70% said the new route would reduce their travel time. Route SL3 was introduced on 24 February 2024, using

New Routemaster The New Routemaster, originally referred to as the New Bus for London and colloquially as the Borismaster or Boris Bus, is a low-floor Hybrid electric bus, hybrid diesel–electric double-decker bus operated in London, England. Designed by Tho ...

s previously operated by London United on route 9. It is operated by Selkent. After a competitive tendering process, the contract was reawarded to Selkent from January 2025 with the New Routemasters being replaced by new

Alexander Dennis Enviro400EV The Alexander Dennis Enviro400EV is a battery electric bus, battery electric double-decker bus produced by the British bus manufacturer Alexander Dennis in partnership with Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer BYD Auto since 2018. Based on its ...

buses.

Current route

Route SL3 operates via these primary locations: *

* Abbey Wood station * Bexleyheath station * Bexleyheath Shopping Centre * Sidcup station * Queen Mary's Hospital * Chislehurst War Memorial * Chislehurst station * Bickley station * Bromley North station

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.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:SL3 Bus routes in London London Superloop