| SL7 | |
|---|---|
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| Overview | |
| Operator | London General (Go-Ahead London) |
| Garage | Croydon |
| Vehicle | Volvo B9TLWright Eclipse Gemini 2 |
| Peak vehicle requirement | 20 (August 2023)[1] |
| Predecessors | Route 726 |
| Former operators | Quality Line Metrobus Tellings-Golden Miller Capital Logistics London Coaches |
| Route | |
| Start | West Croydon bus station |
| Via | Wallington Carshalton Sutton Cheam North Cheam Worcester Park New Malden Kingston upon Thames Teddington Hatton |
| End | Heathrow Central bus station |
| Length | 23.75 miles (38.22 km) |
| Service | |
| Level | Daily |
| Frequency | 8-20 minutes |
| Journey time | 76-129 minutes |
London Buses route SL7, formerlyLondon Buses route X26, is aTransport for London contractedSuperloop express bus route inLondon, England. Running betweenWest Croydon andHeathrow Central bus stations, it is operated byGo-Ahead London subsidiaryLondon General.
Route X26 has its origins inGreen Line Coaches route 725, which started in the 1950s and ran fromGravesend andDartford throughSidcup,Bromley,Croydon,Sutton andKingston toStaines andWindsor. In the late 1970s, route 726 was introduced as a variant, from Gravesend to Windsor viaHeathrow Airport andSlough instead of Staines.[2]
By the 1980s, the sections of route between Heathrow and Windsor and between Gravesend and Dartford had been withdrawn. At that time, the Green Line network was operated byLondon Country Bus Services, but when that company was broken up in 1986, route 726, which ran almost entirely within Greater London, came under the control ofLondon Country North West (LCNW) andKentish Bus & Coach. In 1991, LCNW planned to withdraw the route, butLondon Regional Transport stepped in and took the route over. LCNW continued to operate the route on a short term one-year contract. On 29 February 1992,London Coaches, a subsidiary of London Buses privatised in 1992, commenced operating the route using dual-purposeDAF SB220 vehicles.[3]
The contract changed from London Coaches toCapital Logistics in the late 1990s, and passenger numbers continued to decline. In 1997, London Transport attempted to withdraw the service,[4] but at the end of year, it was given an 18-month reprieve after over 1,600 letters had been received in its support.[5]
Early in 1999, the service was cut back to run between Bromley and Heathrow only; the service became hourly, with no early morning or late evening service. Capital Logistics was bought byTellings-Golden Miller on 1 June 1999, shortly after a new contract for the 726 had been awarded. New low-floor buses were specified, and sevenAlexander ALX300 bodiedVolvo B10BLEs were purchased.[3]
In April 2005, route 726 was renumbered X26 and the section between Bromley andEast Croydon was withdrawn, rerouted to run viaTeddington instead ofHampton Court, and many stops were removed to reduce run times and improve reliability.[6][7] The contract was awarded toMetrobus, which usedScania OmniCity vehicles.[8] London Buses hoped that the re-modelled route would attract more passengers and therefore specified large single-deck buses. It was initially intended to remove stops atCarshalton,Cheam,North Cheam andWorcester Park, but these were retained. The peak vehicle requirement (PVR) fell from six buses to four.[3]
On 22 November 2008, route X26 was doubled in frequency to every 30 minutes for most of the day, including Sundays, although the evening service remained hourly.[9] To cover for the increase in PVR while new vehicles were prepared, Metrobus hiredMercedes-Benz O530 Citaros from Wealden PSV, delivered directly from original ownerQuality Line. The Citaros were returned to Wealden PSV and replaced with Scania OmniCitys from theCrawley Fastway network, refurbished and painted red; these were two years older than the OmniCitys that previously worked on the route.[10]
In June 2010, a proposal to reintroduce the former 726 stop atBeddington was rejected by Transport for London, despite support from many residents.[11] Upon being re-tendered, on 14 April 2012, the route passed toQuality Line with new Mercedes-Benz O530s.[12][13][14]
When next tendered, it passed toLondon General on 15 April 2017.[15] Double-deckWright Eclipse Gemini 2 bodiedVolvo B9TLs that formerly operatedEast London Transit services were introduced after having their rear doors removed and additional luggage racks fitted.[16][17][18]
On 19 August 2023, route X26 was renumbered SL7, becoming part of theSuperloop express bus network. The frequency was also increased to every 8–20 minutes.[19][20] ExtraWright Eclipse Gemini 2 bodiedVolvo B9TLs displaced fromroute 101 were transferred toCroydon garage to bolster the fleet. These were fitted with luggage racks, but unlike the existing buses, retained their rear doors.[1]
London General retained the contract of the route on 12 April 2025.[21] During the same year, route SL7 will gain zero-emissionBYD BD11s as part ofTransport for London's pledge to make its entire bus fleet zero-emission by 2030.[22]
With a length of 23.75 miles, it is the longest bus route in London.[23]
Route SL7 operates via these primary locations:[24]
A doubling of its daytime frequency, to a bus every 15 minutes, has seen its peak vehicle requirement increase to 20.
Upon tender renewal, Stagecoach will deploy ADL Enviro400 EVs onto the SL3, with Go Ahead London using EBD-class BYD B11E02s on the SL4 and SL7.
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