Riding The Bakerloop BL1 – 28th September 2025
The Bakerloop BL1 is a new express bus route in London, that runs between Waterloo station and Lewisham Town Centre.
This article on the BBC, which is entitled New Bus Route Launches With Free Fares In Week One, announced the route.
This is the sub heading.
A new bus route that links parts of south-east London has launched with free fares for its first week of operation
These two paragraphs describe the service in more detail.
The Bakerloop will run between Waterloo station and Lewisham every 12 minutes during the day from Monday to Saturday and every 15 minutes in the evenings and on Sundays.
Electric double-decker BL1 services will operate between 05:00 BST and 00:30 along the proposed Bakerloo Tube line extension route, stopping at Elephant and Castle, New Cross Gate and Lewisham stations.
I took these pictures as I rode from Waterloo station to Lewisham Town Centre.
Note.
- The route starts at Stop D in Waterloo Road on the East side of Waterloo station.
- If you leave the station by Exit 2 and then cross Waterloo Road on the light-controlled crossing, then Stop D is less than thirty metres to your right.
- Pictures 15-24 were taken as the bus went over Bricklayers Arms flyover.
- Picture 23 is a close up of one of the trees along the route. Is it a London Plane.
- Despite the Summer, most trees seem to be in a reasonable condition.
- Crossing the roads and the information could be better in Lewisham Town Centre.
I have some further thoughts.
Trains And Bakerloop BL1 Compared
Consider.
- The bus takes a few minutes over half-an-hour.
- The train takes 19 minutes.
- The train runs twice an hour.
- The bus runs at least four times per hour.
The bus is probably the more affordable option, but the train is faster.
Is The Bakerloop BL1 Fast Enough?
Consider.
- The bus certainly takes almost twice as long as the trains.
- But then it is more frequent.
- The route doesn’t seem particularly hilly.
- The Alexander-Dennis bus didn’t seem slow.
- The bus would probably attract more passengers, if it was faster.
It will be interesting to see how this route develops.
Would Hydrogen Buses Help?
Two of the hydrogen buses, I have ridden have been on longer routes and they have used their undoubted extra power to accelerate and climb hills faster.
Their longer range probably allows them to work for much of a day, without refuelling.
So I wouldn’t rule out hydrogen buses on this route, at some point in the future, because of the route’s length.
Is Bakerloop The Right Name?
I don’t think so, as a certain class of tourist, will assume the bus goes to Baker Street and the Sherlock Holmes Museum.
Perhaps, it should have been called something descriptive like the Waterloo-Lewisham Express.
Is Bakerloop BL1 Being Used As A Pathfinder For The Bakerloo Line Extension To Lewisham?
I’ve read somewhere that it is.
It wouldn’t be a new idea and a properly structured trial could give valuable information about how many people would use the new rail route.
Surely, a similar approach could be taken to provide projections for passenger usage on the West London Orbital Railway.
Could Other Routes Use A Similar Philosophy?
In Riding Birmingham’s New Hydrogen-Powered Buses, I rode a route across Birmingham, that was run to a similar philosophy to the Bakerloop BL1 route, except thast it used hydrogen buses.
So I’m pretty sure the answer is in the affirmative.
Will Three-Axle Double-Deck Buses Be Useful For Routes Like BakerLoop BL1?
I asked Google AI, if three axle electric and hydrogen double-deck buses were being developed and received this reply.
Yes, Wrightbus and Wisdom Motor have developed and are producing three-axle zero-emission double-decker buses, including both battery-electric and hydrogen fuel-cell models. Wrightbus recently unveiled its 6×2 Streetdeck prototype, and Wisdom Motor partnered with Citybus to develop a three-axle hydrogen double-decker (DD12) for Hong Kong’s bus fleet.
I believe that a three-axle bus may have a greater payload, so for routes like Bakerloop BL1, they may be very useful, if only to carry bigger batteries.
‘Bakerloop’ Bus Route launches In Autumn, TfL Says
The title of this post, is the same as that as this article on the BBC.
This is the sub-heading.
A new bus route named the Bakerloop is set to launch in autumn to connect stations and areas in south-east London.
This graphic clipped from the BBC article shows the route.
I don’t deny that South London doesn’t need more buses, but I am getting rather fed up with SadIQ showing he is a South Londoner by putting on more and more buses for his friends.
My regular bus to Moorgate is the 141 bus, which must be the worst bus route in London on an overall basis.
The Anonymous Widower 