Greenwich councillors will call next week for Eltham’s new Superloop bus to be extended to Woolwich so locals can have fast access to the Elizabeth Line.
Conservative councillors are due to introduce a motion at next week’s council meeting for the planned SL15, which would run from Clapham Junction to Eltham station, to run onto Woolwich.
But Greenwich’s Labour-run council has already responded to TfL’s consultation into the new route to call for a link between Eltham and Woolwich, and is encouraging residents to do the same.
The new SL15 route is due to run via Clapham South station and along the South Circular through Tulse Hill, West Dulwich, Forest Hill and Catford to the Yorkshire Grey roundabout and Eltham station. It would use single-decker buses because of a low bridge near Tulse Hill station.
TfL’s consultation is open to the public and closes on Sunday.
Councillors from both parties have long called for better services between Eltham and Woolwich, particularly with the opening of the Elizabeth Line three years ago.
The two town centres have been linked by the 161 bus for decades, but the modern-day route runs via the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, slowing down trips with buses often caught in traffic jams on Shooters Hill Road.
In 2018 there were calls for an express version of the 161 that would skip the hospital, but at the time TfL said that Eltham and Mottingham were already served by rail services to central London and did not need a bus to the Elizabeth Line.
However, since then, Southeastern Metro services have been reduced in frequency and fast Superloop buses have become a key part of mayor Sir Sadiq Khan’s transport policy. One of the network’s routes, the BL1 from Lewisham to Waterloo, is a clear alternative to Southeastern’s trains.
The Conservative motion also calls for the SL15 to run via Mottingham before reaching Eltham, although this is unlikely to find favour with TfL because it would either mean skipping the Yorkshire Grey stop or a lengthy diversion through the Middle Park Estate.
Conservative leader Matt Hartley, who represents Mottingham, Coldharbour & New Eltham, told The Greenwich Wire: “The lack of north-south public transport links is the one of the biggest infrastructure challenges facing our borough. People in Eltham, New Eltham and Mottingham have waited far too long for the bus route improvements these communities deserve – and the Mayor of London’s failure to deliver the promised Eltham to Beckton bus route through the Silvertown tunnel makes it even more important that Transport for London takes this problem seriously.
“The new SL15 Superloop service could be the only realistic opportunity we have to improve this situation in the next few years, so it is vital that we seize this chance to make the route as useful as possible. That’s why Conservative councillors are calling for the route to extend beyond Eltham to Woolwich, to bring more of the benefits of the Elizabeth Line to residents in the south of the borough. And adding a stop in Mottingham is a golden opportunity to provide smaller communities in the very south of the borough with the express route we have long been pressing for.
“Its crucial that local residents take part in the consultation, and we also need Labour-run Greenwich Council to put their shoulder to the wheel and join us in arguing for these changes to the route too.”
Calum O’Byrne Mulligan, the interim cabinet member for transport, said: “It’s a missed opportunity for there not to be a Superloop connection in Eltham and we strongly believe that the SL15 route needs to connect one of our important town centres with another one in Woolwich.
“Woolwich is brilliantly connected due to the Elizabeth Line, alongside many other bus routes, the DLR and national rail. A Woolwich to Eltham express bus service would greatly benefit residents living in both areas.”
According to Greenwich Council’s submission to the consultation, TfL has raised concerns that running to Woolwich would make the route too long because drivers would need a break. The council says that reducing the number of stops in Catford and Clapham Junction may remedy this. It also suggests exploring ways of enabling double-deckers to use the route.
Last week it was announced that TfL had awarded Lewisham Council up to £10 million to help develop better buses in its borough, which would include a link from Grove Park into the borough of Greenwich. Southwark and Haringey councils also won money.
O’Byrne Mulligan said that Greenwich did not bid as it “did not meet the requirements due to not having a suitable transformational bus project. However, we do already receive funding from TfL for our bus priority measures.”
The SL15 consultation is at haveyoursay.tfl.gov.uk. There is little opportunity in the survey to enter free text, but submissions are also accepted by email.
• Two dead-end roads in Thamesmead could be joined up to form a new road just for buses, cyclists and pedestrians in an early sign of development at Thamesmead Waterfront, which is due to get a new DLR station. The two ends of Barnham Drive, which have been fenced off for years, would run through an area called Parkside, with TfL documents indicating that route 244 could be diverted there. Two years ago TfL was given £23 million for a bus priority network in the area. A consultation has launched on the TfL website.
Updated at 1.15pm on Saturday to correct the link to the council’s response to the consultation.
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