In searching through the Freedom of Information (FOI) releases on the Transport for London (TfL) website, I noted they have published a couple of interesting requests relating to London Buses.
Firstly, let's take a look at the top 20 busiest bus routes and commendations by bus users.
Request ID: FOI-2919-2526
Date published: 12 November 2025
Please see the table below which represents data based on recorded Oyster and Contactless taps on the top 20 routes from 1 January 2025 to 31 October 2025:
Top Routes by Tap Count
- Route 18 — 9,211,904
- Route 149 — 8,802,806
- Route 29 — 8,366,445
- Route 5 — 7,833,845
- Route 86 — 7,737,747
- Route 207 — 7,668,091
- Route 243 — 7,396,242
- Route 35 — 7,336,956
- Route 25 — 7,131,250
- Route 36 — 7,099,260
- Route 109 — 7,084,507
- Route 279 — 6,906,474
- Route 53 — 6,615,222
- Route 38 — 6,546,152
- Route 141 — 6,384,810
- Route 158 — 6,229,009
- Route 43 — 6,146,123
- Route 21 — 6,143,501
- Route SL8 — 6,108,152
- Route 65 — 6,097,743
Just to mention that routes 5, 21, 38, and 149 are currently served by the three-door, two-staircase hybrid New Routemaster buses.
In relation to the list above, the following London routes were served by bendy (articulated) buses:
- Route 18: 15 November 2003 – 12 November 2010
- Route 25: 26 June 2004 – 24 June 2011
- Route 29: 14 January 2006 – 25 November 2011
- Route 38: 29 October 2005 – 13 November 2009
- Route 149: 24 April 2004 – 15 October 2010
- Route 207: 9 April 2005 – 9 December 2011 (the last route in London to use them)
Bus Route Commendations Summary (January - October 2025)
The data tracks a total of 2,215 commendations across all bus routes from January through October.
Top Performing Routes:
The most commended route is Route 1, which received 42 commendations. Close behind is Route 17 with 40 commendations.
The next group of highly commended routes includes:
- Route 65, which recorded 20 commendations.
- Route 37, also recording 20 commendations.
- Route 111, with a total of 19 commendations.
Key Monthly Performance:
- The overall commendation count peaked in the middle of the year.
- The highest number of commendations occurred in June (258).
- The second-highest month was October (246), followed closely by September (244) and July (242).
- The month with the lowest number of commendations was February (171).
Route-Specific Highlights:
- Route 1 received its highest monthly commendation count of 7 in April.
- Route 17 saw a significant increase in mid-summer, with 15 commendations in July and 9 in August.
- Route 111 had its best month in March, receiving 5 commendations.
Superloop Commendations Overview
The data covers commendations received for the Superloop bus routes from January through September 2025.
Total Commendations by Month: The highest number of commendations was received in May with 7 total. March and April were close behind with 6 commendations each, as were September (6). The quietest months were January and July, both recording only 1 commendation.
The monthly breakdown is:
- January: 1
- February: 2
- March: 6
- April: 6
- May: 7
- June: 5
- July: 1
- August: 4
- September: 6
Commendations by Route: The SL7 route received the highest total number of commendations across the nine months. It received 3 commendations in May, 2 each in April and June, and 1 in September.
The SL4 route also performed well, recording a total of 7 commendations. The SL5 and SL8 routes were tied with 6 commendations each.
The SL10 and SL2 routes each only received one commendation in the period.
Top Three Longest Night Bus Routes
Request ID: FOI-2896-2526
Date published: 11 November 2025
The longest night bus route is the N199 (with N89 and N9 second and third). Route N199 has a maximum one-way ‘live’ (in service) length of 21.88 miles from Trafalgar Square to St Mary Cray Station (43.47 miles return journey distance). The N199 is also the longest route when ‘dead’ (out of service) mileage is included.
N9 Route (Aldwych ↔ Heathrow Airport, Terminal 5)
Direction: Aldwych to Heathrow Airport, Terminal 5
- Live Distance: 20.21 miles (32.53 Km)
- Dead Distance: 0.01 miles (0.01 Km)
- Total Distance: 20.22 miles (32.54 Km)
Direction: Heathrow Airport, Terminal 5 to Aldwych
- Live Distance: 20.94 miles (33.70 Km)
- Dead Distance: 0.06 miles (0.10 Km)
- Total Distance: 21.00 miles (33.80 Km)
N89 Route (Trafalgar Square ↔ Erith, Bexley Road)
Direction: Trafalgar Square to Erith, Bexley Road
- Live Distance: 21.30 miles (34.28 Km)
- Dead Distance: 0.33 miles (0.54 Km)
- Total Distance: 21.64 miles (34.82 Km)
Direction: Erith, Bexley Road to Trafalgar Square
- Live Distance: 21.34 miles (34.34 Km)
- Dead Distance: 0.52 miles (0.84 Km)
- Total Distance: 21.86 miles (35.18 Km)
N199 Route (Trafalgar Square ↔ St Mary Cray Station)
Direction: Trafalgar Square to St Mary Cray Station
- Live Distance: 21.88 miles (35.21 Km)
- Dead Distance: 0.33 miles (0.53 Km)
- Total Distance: 22.21 miles (35.75 Km)
Direction: St Mary Cray Station to Trafalgar Square
- Live Distance: 21.59 miles (34.75 Km)
- Dead Distance: 0.41 miles (0.66 Km)
- Total Distance: 22.00 miles (35.41 Km)
It is worth noting that I did not make the FOI request myself, as this information is already publicly available on the TfL website for general viewing. Additionally, websites like WhatDoTheyKnow also publish FOI requests and their responses openly for the public, helping to ensure transparency and accessibility of important information.
I would like to extend an invite for you to follow me on X (formerly Twitter) for transport-related updates. You can find me by searching for @CLondoner92 or by clicking on the direct link to my X page here. I am also present on BlueSky and Mastodon. I look forward to connecting with you on these platforms. Thank you for your support.
Further reading:
