Sadiq Khan has pledged to bring in a “Bakerloop” express bus service between Lewisham and the Elephant & Castle if he is re-elected as London’s mayor next month.
The bus route would follow the proposed Bakerloo Line extension to Lewisham, with stops at Burgess Park, Old Kent Road and New Cross Gate, running alongside the existing 21 service.
Khan’s pledge follows the the launch of the Superloop fast buses in outer London, including the SL3 link from Thamesmead to Bexleyheath, Sidcup and Bromley, and the SL5 from from Bromley to Croydon.
The final service in the “loop”, the SL2 from North Woolwich to Walthamstow, launched last month. The mayor’s campaign team said demand on the new buses was 15 per cent above the network average, while passenger numbers on the West Croydon-Heathrow SL7 went up by 56 per cent in the three months after it was doubled in frequency and rebranded.
City Hall has been
pushing for a Bakerloo extension for some years, but the government has so far declined to fund the route – even though Lewisham town centre is already undergoing major redevelopment and housing is beginning to replace the retail parks on Old Kent Road.
The Labour mayor’s aides said that the new bus “will help kickstart housing development in the area, while work on the tube extension is progressed”.
He said: “The new Superloop services have been a huge success in outer London so far, and if I’m re-elected the new Bakerloop Express will help Londoners get between Elephant & Castle, Old Kent Road, New Cross and Lewisham much quicker and more easily.
“I continue to make the case as strongly as ever that we need the Bakerloo line Tube extension to get underway as soon as possible, and TfL are lobbying ministers about the funding the project needs. In the meantime I’m determined that we do all we can to provide the very best service across south London.”
Labour’s Len Duvall, who is standing to serve a seventh term as London Assembly member for Greenwich & Lewisham, said: “This new service is another example of Labour in power working to improve transport connections across London, making access from Lewisham to Lambeth faster and smoother.”
A total of 13 candidates are standing to be mayor, although the Conservative government has changed the voting system this time around so voters will select just one candidate with a cross, rather than giving a first and second preference as in previous elections.
In another change brought in by the government, photo ID is needed for those using polling stations to vote – voters without ID
have until April 24 to apply for a special card. ID will not be needed for postal votes – the
deadline for getting postal votes is April 17.
The election will be on May 2, with results announced two days later. More details at
londonelects.org.uk.
Mayoral candidates: Femy Amin
(Animal Welfare Party), Count Binface
(Count Binface for Mayor of London), Rob Blackie
(Lib Dem), Natalie Campbell
(Independent), Howard Cox
(Reform UK), Amy Gallagher
(Social Democratic Party), Zoe Garrett
(Green Party), Tarun Ghulati
(Independent), Susan Hall
(Conservative), Sadiq Khan
(Labour), Andreas Michli
(Independent), Brian Rose
(London Real), Nick Scanlon
(Britain First)
Greenwich & Lewisham assembly candidates: Len Duvall
(Labour & Co-op), Josh Matthews
(Lib Dem), Mark Simpson
(Reform UK), Karin Tearle
(Green Party), Kieran Terry
(Conservative)
