Forum Topic

Superloop service on Great West Road

The Mayor's proposal for more express orbital bus routes plus a Hounslow Hammersmith link on the A4 is, on the face of it, positive news. The new routes could provide a quick and cheaper means of travel of lots of people. However, one detail I can't work out is where bus stops on the A4 would be situated. There is a danger here that route becomes the bus equivalent of the Piccadilly line with no stop in Chiswick and, worse still, it may have to use vehicles from the H91 route meaning a further drop in services on the High Road. 

Andrew OSullivan ● 311d8 Comments

Obviously there is a balance between the number of stops and the value of the service in terms of speed but as it stands 'Chiswick' would be served by one stop eastbound on the Hounslow to Hammersmith Superloop on the Brentford side of Chiswick Roundabout and maybe two west bound with an additional stop by Hogarth Roundabout.I've no problem with this service being introduced in isolation but if there is a corresponding reduction in the H91, then our local bus services are being reduced even further for what is essentially an election gimmick.

Francis Rowe ● 309d

If you had a bus stop every 500 yards say it would on accasions take ever to get from A-B or from start of route to the end of the route finish. Be like getting a coach from dundee to victoria.

Julian Pavey ● 309d

The SL1 and SL2 services already use sections of the N Circular - they just don't stop on those sections.  The Superloop services have on average 2-3 miles between stops and for some sections, longer.

Michael Robinson ● 309d

The bus stop by Hogarth roundabout is in front of Premier Inn and the Airport bus used to stop there.It would be good if the 702 bust to Slough and Windsor stopped there rather than having to go back to Hammersmith to catch it.

Chris Lucy ● 309d

The bus stop west of Chiswick Roundabout is for the H91 but I don't know what stops at the one by Hogarth Roundabout - maybe it was there for a service for IMG staff back in the day.A similar issue with a lack of space for bus stops arises with the North Circular. It looks like these aren't actually TfL proposals but have been drawn up by the Labour Party for the election without properly checking whether they are feasible. All the evidence suggests they aren't.

Francis Rowe ● 309d

The only A4 bus stops I can think of (near Chiswick) are just after the Hogarth & Chiswick roundabouts - heading west.

Will Watson ● 311d

It will probably just be rebranding of existing bus services, as happened on the route along the Uxbridge Road.Meanwhile routes are quietly being culled elsewhere by this visionary Mayor.

Simon Hayes ● 311d

If a bus route on the A4 was feasible, there would be a bus route on the A4 already. The only way to do it would a bus lane with inlane stops but TfL wouldn't want to do that for just one route. You could rebrand the H91 as a Superloop express and keep to the same route but the problem there is that the cycleway makes it impossible for buses to overtake those in front of them most of the way from Brentford to Hammersmith so missing out stops wouldn't speed up journey times.

Francis Rowe ● 311d