London mayor Sadiq Khan urged to bring Superloop to Havering

Announced in March last year, the Superloop is a series of new bus routes designed to link town centres, transport hubs and hospitals – which together form a vast circle through the capital’s suburbs.

But in a letter to Mr Khan, the London Assembly’s transport committee has said it is “concerned that there are significant areas (such as Havering) not served by these routes”.

The committee’s Conservative chairman, Keith Prince, said: “For London to continue to thrive, we must ensure Transport for London’s (TfL) network connects the entirety of the city.

“Outer London has been crying out for improved transport links for some time, and the Superloop has helped alleviate some pressures on outer London residents.

“However, the existing routes do not do enough for all outer London boroughs, so it is vital that the mayor and TfL expand on the Superloop to other boroughs.”

Mr Prince, who represents Havering and Redbridge on the assembly, added: “There needs to be a more cohesive approach when it comes to outer London transport, and we believe that an outer London transport taskforce would help push forward the changes needed.”

The taskforce described by Mr Prince should work “with neighbouring authorities to agree and implement a detailed series of improvements” to transport in the suburbs, the committee’s letter says.

Alex Smith, head of campaigns at London TravelWatch, told the committee in July last year that her organisation would like to see the Superloop “as a stepping stone to introducing more routes”.

She added: “Some of the routes are pre-existing routes. The extra kilometres are very welcome, but we would like to see more.”

Keith Prince chairs the London Assembly's transport committee (Image: Chantelle Billson)

A TfL official told the committee that “90 per cent of [outer London] residents will be within one interchange of a Superloop route”, but the committee points out that this average includes significant variation between boroughs, from 98 per cent in Greenwich to just 35pc in Havering.

The letter adds that TfL “should investigate ways to introduce further bus priority measures (such as dedicated bus lanes or priority lights) for the Superloop to reduce journey times as well as expanding bus priority measures more generally across outer London”.

Responding, a spokeswoman for the mayor said: “Buses sit at the heart of the capital’s transport network and have a key role to play as we continue building a better, greener and fairer city for all Londoners.

“The mayor is committed to providing the best bus network possible for Londoners and investing across the network, growing outer London’s network, including launching the next Superloop routes in the coming weeks to improve journeys for all Londoners.

“Over the coming months, the impact of the Superloop routes will be kept under review, to consider whether to make any changes or add any additional express routes.

“The mayor will consider the assembly transport committee’s recommendations and respond in due course.”

This paper reported last March on Havering councillors reacting unhappily to the absence of the borough from the Superloop network.

Mr Khan was also told in the committee’s letter that he should work with the Government and rail operators to ensure that all main railway stations in outer London have at least four services an hour in each direction, and to ensure that key outer London bus services have their frequencies increased.

The assembly members added that the mayor should continue lobbying the government to “provide significant funding for key outer London infrastructure projects such as Beam Park station, the Docklands Light Railway extension to Thamesmead, and the West London Orbital railway”.