The Superloop is a network of 13 express bus routes that skip most stops and connect outer London's town centres and stations to each other rather than to the centre. It covers 240 kilometres, calls in 25 boroughs and serves 67 bus and rail stations, and every journey on it costs the same £1.75 as any other London bus. For anyone staying outside Zone 2, it is the single most useful thing Transport for London has built in years.
How ordinary London buses work, and how to pay, is in our guide to London buses and night buses. What runs after midnight is in London night buses. This page is about the express network and about when going round the edge beats going in and out again.
The word "loop" is doing some work in the name. Most of the routes do form a rough ring around the suburbs, but two of them run into central London instead, so it is better understood as an express overlay on the outer bus network than as a literal orbital.
The Superloop at a glance
- Routes
- 13, numbered SL1 to SL12 plus BL1
- Length
- 240 kilometres across 25 boroughs
- Stations served
- 67 bus and rail stations
- Fare
- £1.75, the same as any bus, rising to £1.85 on 1 November 2026
- Daily bus cap
- £5.25, rising to £5.55
- What is different
- Limited stops, branded shelters, live arrivals, USB charging on most buses
- Newest route
- SL12, launched 5 September 2026
What makes a Superloop bus different
The single change is that these buses do not stop everywhere. An ordinary London route calls at every stop it passes; a Superloop route serves only key locations, which is what makes it express. On a long outer-London corridor that difference is worth 15 or 20 minutes.
Everything else is presentation. The stops have illuminated shelter toppers and coloured route tiles so that you can pick them out from an ordinary stop, many have live arrival displays, and the buses carry a route map painted on the outside showing the key stopping points. Most have USB charging sockets.
Crucially, the fare is not different. Transport for London makes the point itself: for £1.75 you can travel direct from West Croydon to Heathrow Airport, or from Uxbridge to White City, which is the same price as a journey of three stops. Contactless, Oyster and the daily bus cap all work exactly as usual, as our guide to Oyster and contactless fares explains.
The thirteen routes
| Route | Runs between | Calling at |
|---|---|---|
| SL1 | North Finchley - Walthamstow | Arnos Grove, Silver Street, New Southgate |
| SL2 | Walthamstow Central - North Woolwich | Gants Hill, Ilford, Barking, Gallions Reach, King George V |
| SL3 | Thamesmead - Bromley North | Abbey Wood, Bexleyheath, Sidcup, Bickley |
| SL4 | Canary Wharf - Grove Park | East India, Blackheath, Lee, via the Silvertown Tunnel |
| SL5 | Bromley North - Croydon | Bromley South, East Croydon |
| SL6 | Russell Square - West Croydon | Holborn, Waterloo, West Norwood. Weekday peaks only |
| SL7 | West Croydon - Heathrow Airport | Sutton, Worcester Park, Kingston, Teddington, Hatton Cross |
| SL8 | Uxbridge - White City | Ealing Broadway, Ealing Common, Acton Central, Shepherd's Bush |
| SL9 | Heathrow Airport - Harrow | Northolt |
| SL10 | Harrow - North Finchley | Kenton, Kingsbury, Hendon Central, Finchley Central |
| SL11 | North Greenwich - Abbey Wood | Charlton, Woolwich, Woolwich Arsenal, Plumstead |
| SL12 | Gants Hill - Rainham, Ferry Lane | Newbury Park, Romford, Elm Park |
| BL1 | Waterloo - Lewisham | Elephant & Castle, New Cross Gate |
Read that table as a ring and two spokes. SL1, SL2, SL3, SL5, SL7, SL8, SL9, SL10, SL11 and SL12 chain together around the edge of London, from Walthamstow in the north-east round through Bromley and Croydon to Heathrow and back up through Uxbridge and Harrow. SL4 crosses the river through the Silvertown Tunnel. SL6 and BL1 are the exceptions: both run into the middle of town, and SL6 only at weekday peaks.
When the loop beats going in and out again
London's railways are radial. Almost every line runs from an outer suburb into the centre, which means a journey between two outer places traditionally involves going in to Zone 1 and back out, often on two separate lines. The Superloop exists to fix that.
Some real examples of what it saves:
- Croydon to Heathrow. SL7 runs direct for £1.75. By rail it is a journey into Victoria or London Bridge and out again on the Elizabeth line or the Piccadilly, at a considerably higher fare.
- Uxbridge to Westfield London. SL8 goes straight there via Ealing, ending at White City next to the shopping centre; see our guide to Westfield: Stratford and White City.
- Heathrow to Harrow. SL9 does it directly via Northolt, which the rail network simply does not.
- North Greenwich to Abbey Wood. SL11 links the Jubilee line and the O2 to the Elizabeth line's south-eastern terminus along the river. See the O2 and London's big arenas.
- Canary Wharf to Lewisham and Grove Park. SL4 uses the Silvertown Tunnel to cross the river where there was no crossing before; our guide to Canary Wharf covers the area.
SL7 is the cheapest way to Heathrow from a large part of south-west London. A direct express bus from West Croydon through Sutton, Kingston and Teddington to the airport costs £1.75 and counts towards the £5.25 daily bus cap. The Elizabeth line from central London to Heathrow is £15.50 from Zone 1 and the Heathrow Express is £26.00. If your hotel is out that way, the difference over a family of four is the price of a meal. Our comparison of Heathrow transfer options covers the rest.
When it does not help
The Superloop is not a shortcut into central London and it is not trying to be. If you are staying in Zone 1 or 2 and sightseeing in the middle of town, you will never touch it. Even the two routes that do come in, SL6 and BL1, are commuter services rather than visitor ones, and SL6 runs only at weekday peaks.
It is also slower than rail on any corridor where a direct train exists. Uxbridge to central London is quicker on the Metropolitan line; Croydon to London Bridge is quicker by train. The Superloop wins only where the railway makes you change in Zone 1 or offers no direct route at all.
And it is a bus, which means traffic. The South Circular, the A406 and the approaches to Heathrow all queue at peak times, and an express bus in a jam is an ordinary bus. Our guide to avoiding rush hour applies.
What it costs, and how the cap works
A Superloop journey is a bus journey: £1.75 until 1 November 2026, £1.85 after that. The Hopper fare applies, so any number of bus and tram journeys started within one hour of touching in cost that single fare, which means an SL route plus a connecting local bus is usually one fare rather than two.
The daily bus and tram cap is £5.25, rising to £5.55, and the weekly cap is £24.70. Because the Superloop is a bus network, a day spent crossing outer London on it can cost less than a single Tube journey across Zone 1. Zones do not apply to buses at all, which is worth knowing if you are staying a long way out; our guide to London's travel zones explains where zones do and do not matter.
Children under 11 travel free on buses without a card, and 11 to 15-year-olds pay a reduced fare. A family crossing outer London by bus is therefore paying for the adults only, which changes the arithmetic considerably against rail; see our breakdown of what a day in London costs.
SL12, the newest route
Route SL12 launched on 5 September 2026 and runs between Gants Hill and Rainham, Ferry Lane, serving Elm Park, Romford and Newbury Park stations. It operates from about 05:30 to 00:30 every day of the week, with buses every 12 minutes during the day from Monday to Saturday and every 15 minutes in the evenings and all day on Sunday.
Those frequencies are typical of the network and worth noting: this is a proper turn-up-and-go service rather than a timetabled express coach. Transport for London publishes a route map as a PDF and lists timetables for each route on its stations, stops and piers pages.
Outer London by bus, more generally
The Superloop sits on top of an ordinary outer-London bus network that is dense, cheap and better than most visitors realise. Two features of it are worth knowing.
Hail and ride sections exist on some outer routes, where there are no marked stops and you put your arm out anywhere it is safe for the bus to pull in. The route map marks these sections; if you are not sure, ask the driver where they can stop.
Night buses cover the outer suburbs far better than the Night Tube does, because the Night Tube runs on five lines plus one Overground line on Friday and Saturday nights only, while night buses run every night across the whole city. If you are staying in outer London and going out in the centre, the night bus is usually the answer rather than a cab.
For the buses worth riding for their own sake rather than to get somewhere, see our guide to bus routes worth riding for the view. And for the outer neighbourhoods the Superloop connects, our guides to Ealing and west London, Walthamstow and Kingston and Surbiton are the places to start.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Superloop in London?
A network of 13 express bus routes, numbered SL1 to SL12 plus BL1, connecting outer London town centres and transport hubs. The routes serve only key stops rather than every stop, which makes them faster than ordinary buses. Together they cover 240 kilometres, call in 25 boroughs and serve 67 bus and rail stations.
Does the Superloop cost more than a normal bus?
No. Every Superloop journey costs the standard bus fare of £1.75, rising to £1.85 on 1 November 2026, with the same Hopper fare and the same £5.25 daily cap. Transport for London points out that you can travel from West Croydon to Heathrow, or Uxbridge to White City, for that single fare.
Is the Superloop useful for tourists?
Only if you are staying or going outside central London. It is designed for journeys around the edge of the city rather than into it, so a visitor based in Zone 1 will never use it. If your hotel is in outer London, or you are heading to Heathrow from the south-west, it can save both time and a great deal of money.
Which Superloop route goes to Heathrow?
Two of them. SL7 runs between West Croydon and Heathrow Airport via Sutton, Worcester Park, Kingston, Teddington and Hatton Cross. SL9 runs between Heathrow Airport and Harrow via Northolt. Both cost the standard bus fare.
Is the Superloop a complete ring around London?
Not quite. Most of the routes chain together into a rough orbital around the suburbs, but SL4 crosses the river through the Silvertown Tunnel, and two routes run into central London instead: SL6 from Russell Square to West Croydon, which operates at weekday peaks only, and BL1 from Waterloo to Lewisham.
Sources
- Transport for London - Superloop (checked September 2026)
- Transport for London - Bus and tram fares (checked September 2026)
- Transport for London - Daily and weekly capping (checked September 2026)
- Transport for London - Night Tube (checked September 2026)
- Transport for London - Getting to and from Heathrow on the Elizabeth line (checked September 2026)