Superloop SL12 Starts 5 September: Every Romford Stop

Transport for London has fixed a start date for the Superloop SL12. The express bus between Rainham and Gants Hill, running through Romford town centre, begins on Saturday 5 September 2026.

TfL confirmed the date on its own bus changes page, having said for the past year only that the route would arrive “during 2026” (Transport for London, changes to bus routes).

Three existing Romford services change stops on the same day, which matters more to most people in the town centre than the new route does.

The basics

• Runs between Rainham, Ferry Lane Industrial Area and Gants Hill Station
• Via Elm Park, Queen’s Hospital, Romford town centre and Newbury Park
• Every 12 minutes Monday to Saturday daytimes
• Every 15 minutes evenings and all day Sunday
• First buses around 05:00 from each end, seven days a week
• Last buses depart each end around 00:30
• Operated by Stagecoach London using new electric double deck buses
• A standard bus fare, £1.75 with the Hopper, the same as any other bus journey

Superloop routes are limited-stop. The SL12 will pass stops it does not serve, which is how the journey time is meant to come down.

Every stop, in order

Towards Gants Hill, from Rainham:

1. A new bus stop on Ferry Lane, south of the roundabout with Coldharbour Lane
2. A new bus stop on Lamson Road, for Rainham Station
3. Stop F, Rainham Tesco, Viking Way
4. Stop M, Dunedin Road, Cherry Tree Lane
5. Stop H, Ford Lane, South End Road
6. Stop W, Freeborne Gardens, Mungo Park Road
7. Stop C, Elm Park Station
8. Stop HM, inside Queen’s Hospital bus interchange
9. Stop Z, Romford Station
10. Stop P, Romford Town Centre, Western Road
11. Stop N, Mawney Road, Eastern Avenue
12. Stop EE, East Road, Eastern Avenue
13. Stop C, Barley Lane / King George Hospital, Eastern Avenue
14. Stop NB, opposite Newbury Park Station, Eastern Avenue
15. Stop NK, Ley Street, Eastern Avenue
16. Set down only at stop CH, Gants Hill Station / Cranbrook Road

Towards Rainham, from Gants Hill:

1. Stop EC, Parham Drive, Eastern Avenue
2. Stop NL, Horns Road, Eastern Avenue
3. Stop NA, inside Newbury Park Station bus interchange
4. Stop D, Barley Lane / King George Hospital, Eastern Avenue
5. Stop EB, Padnall Road, Eastern Avenue
6. Stop M, Mawney Road, Eastern Avenue
7. Stop QQ, Romford Town Centre, Western Road
8. Stop Y, Romford Station
9. Stop HK, inside Queen’s Hospital bus interchange
10. Stop M, Elm Park Station
11. Stop R, Freeborne Gardens, Mungo Park Road
12. Stop P, Ford Lane, South End Road
13. Stop Y, Dunedin Road, Cherry Tree Lane
14. Stop F, Rainham Tesco, Viking Way
15. A new bus stop on Lamson Road, for Rainham Station
16. Set down only at the new Ferry Lane stop

Some of those stops do not exist yet. TfL is building new ones on Ferry Lane and on Lamson Road, which it describes as providing access to the south side of Rainham Station.

Three Romford routes change stops the same day

This is the part that will catch people out. From 5 September:

• Routes 86 and N86 towards Stratford move from stop P to stop PP on Western Road.
• Route 498 from Brentwood no longer serves stop P on Western Road. Passengers should use stop V outside Romford Station, or stop N on Mercury Gardens.

Stop P on Western Road becomes an SL12 stop.

What the route is for

In its consultation TfL listed what it wants the route to deliver:

• quicker access to Romford for shops, jobs, leisure and the Elizabeth line
• a convenient link to Elm Park and the District line
• access to the Central line and the existing Superloop network in Redbridge
• a direct bus connection between King George Hospital and Queen’s Hospital
• a bus route into the Ferry Lane Industrial Estate for the first time, which TfL says supports employers and staff there

The hospital link is the one with no current equivalent. Queen’s and King George are run by the same trust, and until now there has been no single bus between them.

How it got here

TfL consulted on the SL12 between March and May 2025 and received 805 responses. It published its consultation report on 10 September 2025 and confirmed it would proceed, with two changes made after feedback: a reroute in Rainham so the route also serves the Rainham Tesco stop F in both directions, and a bus stop change (Have Your Say TfL, SL12 consultation).

Answering a written question from Assembly Member Keith Prince on 20 November 2025, the Mayor said work was “under way to launch SL12 in 2026” without naming a date (Greater London Authority, Proposed SL12 Route).

The SL12 will be the twelfth numbered Superloop route. The network launched in 2023 and TfL describes it as express bus routes linking outer London town centres and transport hubs, at the same fare as any other bus.

What it means for you

If you commute from Rainham or Elm Park to Romford. From 5 September you have a limited-stop option every 12 minutes in the daytime, reaching Romford Station for the Elizabeth line. Check where your nearest SL12 stop is first: the route deliberately skips most stops, so the nearest one may not be the one you use now.

If you catch the 86, N86 or 498 in Romford town centre. Note the stop changes above before 5 September. Western Road stop P will not be your stop any more.

If you travel between the two hospitals. The direct link starts the same day. TfL has not published journey times for the route, so we cannot say how long it will take; timetables appear in the TfL journey planner nearer the date.

If you use Rainham Station. The new Lamson Road stops are being put in for access to the station’s south side.

Everything above comes from TfL’s own published record. The route is not yet in TfL’s live line data, so stop-level arrival times and a full timetable will not appear until closer to launch.

Sources

• Changes to bus routes, Transport for London
• SL12 consultation and decision, Have Your Say TfL
• Superloop, Transport for London
• Proposed SL12 Route, Greater London Authority, 20 November 2025

More travel information: Romford roadworks and travel and Romford train times to London.