Consultation opens on Bakerloo line replacement bus service — the Bakerloop

Because it will be years before the Bakerloo line extension opens, if at all, a long-term rail replacement bus service to run along the route is being proposed.

Proposed BL1 route (c) TfL

The proposed bus route BL1 — already nicknamed the Bakerloop — would provide an express link between Waterloo, Elephant & Castle and Lewisham town centre.

In line with what is proposed for a future Bakerloo line extension, the BL1 Bakerloop would start and stop at Waterloo, via the following key transport interchanges and town centres: Waterloo, Elephant & Castle, Burgess Park (Dunton Road), Old Kent Road (Ilderton Road), New Cross Gate, Lewisham station and town centre.

Nearly half of the people along the Bakerloo line extension live in the top 30% of most deprived neighbourhoods in England, so even without the implied association with the London Underground extension, an improved bus service will still be of considerable benefit to local commuters.

The bus route would also be a quicker and cheaper alternative to the proposed tram network, which has been occasionally mentioned as a possible interim stage while the tube line is being developed.

Unlike the existing Superloop service, which has white and red branding, this Bakerloop bus would be differentiated by a brown Bakerloo line colour scheme, which would serve as a visible reminder that it is an alternative to the Bakerloo line extension. Differentiating the branding would also, in theory, make it easier to close the Bakerloop when the Bakerloo extension is eventually built.

A consultation on the Bakerloop bus service has opened here.

Bakerloop line diagram (c) TfL