London Buses route SL5

SL5
Arriva London Alexander Dennis Enviro200 at Bromley South station
Overview
Operator	Arriva London
Garage	Croydon
Vehicle	Alexander Dennis Enviro200
Peak vehicle requirement	10 (February 2024)
Began service	3 February 2024
Route
Start	Bromley North station
Via	The Chinese Garage Bethlem Royal Hospital Shirley
End	Croydon
Service
Level	Daily

London Buses route SL5 is a Transport for London contracted Superloop express bus route in London, England. Running between Bromley North station and Croydon, it is operated by Arriva London. The route partially parallels route 119.

History

On 21 July 2023, a consultation for route SL5 was opened by Transport for London, and closed on 4 September the same year. On 5 December 2023, it was confirmed that the route would be introduced.

Route SL5 was introduced on 3 February 2024. It is operated by Arriva London from their Croydon garage. Unlike other Superloop routes, which are operated by double deck buses, the SL5 is operated with single deck Alexander Dennis Enviro200 buses due to overhanging trees on South Eden Park Road.

Current route

Route SL5 operates via these primary locations:

• Bromley North station
• Bromley South station
• The Chinese Garage
• Bethlem Royal Hospital
• Shirley
• East Croydon station
• Croydon town centre

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 SL5 has been met with generally positive feedback. In a poll, 81% of respondents believed that the route would make their journeys faster, and 58% said they would be more likely to use the route to replace a journey made by car.

Conservative Councillor Thomas Turrell, who represents Hayes and Coney Hall in Bromley, has voiced his disappointment with the route, saying that it does not help to improve connectivity in the rural areas of London, and that "residents will see it as a missed opportunity to really improve public transport connectivity".

External links

Media related to London Buses route SL5 at Wikimedia Commons