Superloop could head to Greenwich according to Mayor

London Mayor Sadiq Khan has raised the prospect of additional Superloop routes if he wins the election including one from Thamesmead to Greenwich via Woolwich.

Another route revealed was between Streatham and Eltham.

Existing Superloop routes mostly circling London have been introduced, with SL3 between Bromley and Thamesmead linking to any future route.

The SL3 service looks assured with a new seven year contract using electric buses recently awarded to replace the short-term tender using New Routemasters currently in use.

Any new express bus from Thamesmead to Woolwich then beyond to North Greenwich would replicate the 472 route as well as the ditched Greenwich Waterfront Transit scheme of the 2000s.

A history of that long drawn-out and ultimately cancelled saga can be seen in this post.

Housing and transport need

Regardless of any Superloop plans on the route, the sheer amount of housing both underway and proposed would have necessitated additional public transport capacity. Since the GWT was dropped, for up to 8,000 homes have been included in the Charlton Riverside masterplan with the first homes now underway.

Other developments nearby add to the total such as the rebuild of Morris Walk estate which is seeing total homes increase across the site. Work on the first blocks north of the railway line – which are doubling compared to the previous total, are now seeing the sheeting come down.

To the south blocks are advancing quickly as seen by any rail passenger heading between Woolwich Dockyard and Charlton.

Greenwich

Total homes in the Greenwich Peninsula masterplan have also increased a number of times and now total more than 17,000.

Other plots surrounding it total into the thousands including an approved tower beside the 02, Morden Wharf, Fairview’s recently submitted proposals and towers at the proposed former cruise liner site.

Greenwich Millennium Village also sits outside the 17,000-home masterplan area and is now seeing work underway on the next plots.

Woolwich is of course a hotbed of development though has National Rail, the DLR and the Elizabeth line.

The Eltham route is part of an inner loop that at first glance will disappoint many locally including Labour and Conservative councillors.

It doesn’t offer a quick link to Woolwich to reach the Elizabeth line nor a quick link to North Greenwich for the tube. Both things long demanded.

Of course, this policy could have been hastily drawn up and later consultation alters the route. After all, Superloop route SL3 didn’t initially head further north than Bexleyheath offering no limited-stop link to Abbey Wood station for those in the south or north from Thamesmead.

That was rectified before services commenced.

One major element in the mix is that £23 million was announced for a Bus Rapid Transit between north Thamesmead and Woolwich in the 2023 budget. A recent TfL report – the Bus Action Plan – stated it must be spent by 2026.

How that works out and feeds into Superloop plans is not yet know – and eagerly anticipated.