Labour in Sutton has been pressing for improved bus and other public transport services as a result of Sadiq Khan, Labour Mayor of London proposing his Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) scheme which came in across outer London on Tuesday 29 August 2023.

The local Labour Parties have also discussed ULEZ at least three times debating two motions and invited Elly Baker, the Labour London Assembly Transport Spokesperson to hear local member views. We have also produced an information page on our website that covers the operation of it. Our Sutton Labour Councillors have also taken part in debates on this issue at Sutton Council.

Immediate Improvements – The Superloop

As part of the transport changes to outer London being planned at the same time as the ULEZ, the Mayor has listened and delivered on a number of improvements which local people have been campaigning for.

1. He has launched the “Superloop” of express outer London buses which directly improves things for us locally in Sutton. This expansion is in place and all the services are listed here.

2. From Saturday 19 August 2023 the X26 express bus through Sutton to Croydon and Heathrow became the SL7 Bus Route and increases in frequency from half an hour to 15 minutes. This significant improvement should also more than fully address the recent changes made to the frequency of the 213 bus route. in the west of the borough. It seems to be working well and demonstrated a clear need for this service as Transport for London reported a 62% increase in passengers numbers a few months later.

3. From Saturday 2 March 2024 the Mayor introduced a number of changes to the 470, S3 and S4 buroutes and also introduced the S2 bus service that has a 7 day a week service between St Helier and Epsom Hospital. This has proved to be very popular. More details are here.

Future Likely Improvements – Superloop 2

1. The Mayor is now proposing a Superloop 2 and that could see the SL7 and SL5 buses both starting from Sutton potentially developing its role as a key transport hub with a key bus route travelling East and West. Below we suggest how that could be developed further with a North-South express bus service as part of Superloop 2 consultations or through a further Superloop 3 stage.

Further Potential Improvements

At the same time our local Parties and our Sutton Labour Councillors have expressed our views on further improvements to Transport for London (TfL) and both Marina Ahmad and Elly Baker on the London Assembly.

Based on our local election manifesto in 2022 and recent discussions at our meetings we have come up with some initial suggestions to make to decision-makers which are set out below:

Suggested Proposals for future improvements by TfL

Early Potential Improvements

1. Extend the N155 Night bus from Morden, past St Helier Hospital to Wallington Station. This would mean a night bus stops right outside St Helier Hospital for both staff an visitors to the hospital arriving or leaving. It would make both Rosehill near St Helier Hospital (helpful for hospital staff on shift) and Wallington more effective night-time transport hubs as the extended N155 would connect with the N44 Bus route at Rosehill that goes down to Sutton and would also connect at Wallington with the 154 weekend night service which runs across the centre of the borough (also connecting with the N44) and the 154 Bus Route could also be extended back to 7 day a week 24 hour working to complete the nightbus network in Sutton.

2. Look at the S3 Bus Route running after 10pm at night and also running on a Sunday.

3. Establish an SL7 Bus Stop for Beddington Village. There may also be a case for a stop at Waddon to interchange with the railway station there.

4. Establish a proper black taxi cab rank at Wallington Station.

Longer-Term Proposals

5. A Superloop 2 Express Bus and/or Express Tram Bus for Sutton and Merton. At present we recognise there is inadequate funding for any tram extension in the Borough of Sutton and we believe Sutton Council should be honest about this and not mislead residents as to the speed of its delivery which could be many years away and, in its latest version, could also entail a controversial road flyover being built over the Angel Hill Cutting in Sutton, which is why capital costs started at £330 million and were last reported as £420 million in 2020 and could be close to half a billion Pounds if it ever moves forward. An alternative approach would be:

a) A “SL280” Superloop 2 press Bus or a new style Tram Bus (like the 358 bus route Tram Bus) as a north-south radial “SL express service” (like the SL6/X68) which could be created to run along the 280 Bus route to connect a number of Sutton, Merton and Wandsworth rail and tube stations and three big hospitals. It could be delivered in 6 months if the political will was there and would save up to half a billion on capital costs of building a tram extension to Sutton.

b) It is worth setting out the detail of this proposal. Instead of a slow, complex, expensive and potentially controversial Tram extension taking perhaps up to 20 or more years, there could instead be the rapid delivery of an SL280 “Tram-Bus” express service (ie a bus that looks like a tram like the one launched on 20 November 2024 on the Bromley 358 Bus Route). More on that new bus is here and here. This could run along the following route with around 9 to 11 stops:

1. Belmont Station/Royal Marsden/The Cancer Hub stop
2. (optional) North end of Shanklin Village stop
3. Sutton Station
4. (optional) Central Sutton (ie St Nicholas Way/Throwley Way stops)
5. Sutton Green (near Sutton Common Thameslink Station)
6. Rosehill (near St Helier Hospital).
7. Mitcham Tramstop to cross-connect with the existing Tramlink,
8. Mitcham Upper Green
9. Tooting Station to connect with Thameslink
10. Tooting Broadway to connect with the Northern Line Underground
11. St George’s Hospital.

c) If that first phase works well a further phase could be for it to  possibly later go on to London Victoria following the 44 Bus Route. This would be a radial express service similar to SL6 Bus Route (formerly the X68 express bus route), but run all day.

d) On top of that because the N44 Night Bus Route follows that same route already it would in effect be a 24 hour service too. This 24 hour mainly express bus service would be of great use to Hospital staff  & to patients and visitors at St Georges, St Helier and the Royal Marsden Hospitals as well as helping Sutton commuters to better connect with a number of rail, tram and underground interchanges.

6. Extending the London Overground from West Croydon to Sutton. This could be done in stages:

a) Extend to Wallington Station as there is likely to be capacity and rail space west of thee station for trains to rest there.

b) Consider extending to Sutton Station which may have capacity issues which could be resolved but may need extra tracks on the Epsom Downs line to the south of Sutton station.

c) Consider extending to Epsom Downs thus covering Belmont too and taking over that line. This would not have any capacity issues but would likely need double tracking along more of the line. It might also call into question whether Southern Rail trains would still run on the Sutton to Belmont line.

7. Look at bringing back the “Go Sutton” bus on demand service after its successful pilot operation in the borough in 2019/20.

Potential Improvements by Non TfL Transport providers

8. Reinstate train and bus services and frequency of services lost during the Covid pandemic

9. Sutton Council could work with the Sutton Town Centre Business Improvement District to bring back the Sutton Mobility Bus that used to drive up and down the High Street.