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Bus route 488

Transport
488
Usually an Alexander Dennis Adl Enviro 200.

42% on timeof departures in the week ending 31 October 2026, leaving no more than 2.5 minutes early or 5 minutes late. Half of London's timetabled routes managed 71% or better.

The last week, day by day
Share of departures leaving on time.

Watch a day of route 488’s buses: every bus, replayed on the map. Or click a day on the chart.

The weekly figures

The share of departures that left on time.

Week endingHancock RoadDalston Junction Station
21 Jun 2025no datano data
28 Jun 202514%73%
5 Jul 202516% thin68% thin
12 Jul 202515% thin56% thin
19 Jul 202523%71%
26 Jul 202519%73%
2 Aug 202511%70%
9 Aug 202518%83%
16 Aug 202514%71%
23 Aug 202522%75%
30 Aug 202517%77%
6 Sept 202515%60%
13 Sept 202515%51%
20 Sept 202516%62%
27 Sept 202522%70%
4 Oct 202515%62%
11 Oct 202513%65%
18 Oct 202521%69%
25 Oct 202529%79%
1 Nov 202516%70%
8 Nov 202517%63%
15 Nov 202516% thin66% thin
22 Nov 202522% thin72% thin
29 Nov 202526%58%
6 Dec 202527%61%
13 Dec 202524%54%
20 Dec 202513%59%
27 Dec 202539% thin69% thin
3 Jan 202628%89%
10 Jan 20268%78%
17 Jan 202616%68%
24 Jan 202615%79%
31 Jan 202612%75%
7 Feb 202615%73%
14 Feb 202621%69%
21 Feb 2026no datano data
28 Feb 2026no datano data
7 Mar 202614%75%
14 Mar 20265%76%
21 Mar 20269%63%
28 Mar 202613%80%
4 Apr 202610%81%
11 Apr 202613%89%
18 Apr 202616%75%
25 Apr 202620% thin62% thin
2 May 202616%71%
9 May 202615%62%
16 May 202616%40%
23 May 202619%74%
30 May 202631%83%
6 Jun 202622%67%
13 Jun 202618%78%
20 Jun 202612%75%
27 Jun 202624%67%
4 Jul 2026no datano data
11 Jul 202617%70%
18 Jul 202615%74%
25 Jul 202610%74%
1 Aug 2026no datano data
8 Aug 2026no datano data
15 Aug 2026no datano data
22 Aug 2026no datano data
29 Aug 2026no datano data
5 Sept 202610%80%
12 Sept 202618%59%
19 Sept 20269%63%
26 Sept 202622%63%
3 Oct 202623%58%
10 Oct 202622%80%
17 Oct 202624%72%
24 Oct 202622%74%
31 Oct 202617%70%

A passenger going by the timetable at Hancock Road would find about eight departures in ten leaving more than 2.5 minutes early or 5 minutes late.

Hancock Road
On time
17%
Cut short
4.3%
Dalston Junction Station
On time
70%
Cut short
8.9%

61 minutes was the longest gap between buses this week, at Old Ford Road towards Forest Road, on Tuesday 27 October from 19:47 to 20:48. This excludes any gaps caused by holes in our own data. Watch it happen →

Journeys cut short

Last week: 5.0% of journeys were turned back before the end of the line in the week ending 31 October 2026. Everyone on board has to get off; for anyone waiting further along the route it's effectively a cancellation.

Last four weeks: 191 journeys on route 488 were turned back before the end of the line over four weeks of watching, 10 October to 31 October 2026 — about 6.8 a day.

00.20.40.60.8journeys cut short a day, by hour00:00–01:00: 0.2 cut short on an average day00:0001:00–02:00: 0.0 cut short on an average day02:00–03:00: 0.0 cut short on an average day03:00–04:00: 0.0 cut short on an average day04:00–05:00: 0.1 cut short on an average day05:00–06:00: 0.1 cut short on an average day06:00–07:00: 0.2 cut short on an average day06:0007:00–08:00: 0.3 cut short on an average day08:00–09:00: 0.4 cut short on an average day09:00–10:00: 0.5 cut short on an average day10:00–11:00: 0.6 cut short on an average day11:00–12:00: 0.4 cut short on an average day12:00–13:00: 0.2 cut short on an average day12:0013:00–14:00: 0.2 cut short on an average day14:00–15:00: 0.3 cut short on an average day15:00–16:00: 0.6 cut short on an average day16:00–17:00: 0.3 cut short on an average day17:00–18:00: 0.4 cut short on an average day18:00–19:00: 0.6 cut short on an average day18:0019:00–20:00: 0.5 cut short on an average day20:00–21:00: 0.4 cut short on an average day21:00–22:00: 0.2 cut short on an average day22:00–23:00: 0.2 cut short on an average day23:00–00:00: 0.3 cut short on an average daybusiest hour 10:00 — 0.6 a day

Where those journeys fall across the day. Each bar is the number cut short in that hour on an average day, so the bars together come to the daily figure above; hover a bar for its hour. Hours the route was not watched enough to say are shaded rather than drawn as nought.

towards Hancock Road

Last week, 17 of 333 journeys (5%) were turned short.

  • Bow Church0.5 km short of the end 8
  • Bow Bus Garage0.9 km short of the end 3
  • Rothbury Road2.9 km short of the end 2
  • Hackney Wick / Trowbridge Road3.3 km short of the end 2
  • Muir Road7.1 km short of the end 1
  • Elsewhere along the route 1

towards Forest Road

Last week, 7 of 147 journeys (5%) were turned short.

  • Old Ford Road7.4 km short of the end 2
  • Roman Road Market7.6 km short of the end 2
  • Lea Bridge Roundabout2.7 km short of the end 1
  • Shacklewell Lane / Kingsland High Street0.8 km short of the end 1
  • Rio Cinema0.6 km short of the end 1

Each place is the last stop the bus was timed at before it turned round, with the typical distance it fell short of the end of the line. The five busiest are named; the rest are counted together.

Compared with TfL's own figures

QuarterTfLOurs
2025/26 Q313 Sept – 2 Jan 202677% on timeno figure
2026/27 Q11 Apr – 26 Jun 202678% on timeno figure

TfL's figures come from its own tracking equipment and its own timetable; mine are computed from the buses' public position feed. They are the same calculation on independent data, so they should broadly agree and move together rather than match exactly.

About this data
Data collected, week ending 31 October 2026
100% of the week. This is the share of the week for which we hold bus location data at all, across the whole of London rather than for this route. A week under 60% is not published; under 90% it is marked as thin.
Departures observed
  • Hancock Road: 287 departures seen
  • Dalston Junction Station: 267 departures seen
A guide to how much evidence sits behind this week's figures, not a measure of the service.
How it is measured
Every day, 05:00–23:59. On time means leaving no more than 2.5 minutes early or 5 minutes late. A day with less than four hours of data collected shows no daily figure. How these figures are made.
Gaps in the record for this period (39)

Most recent first. Hover a week on the chart and it will name the gap behind it. Most are a few missing hours on an otherwise ordinary day.

  • 17 Sept 2026 partial day, no data 12:00-12:59: our collector was down (machine off or power cut)
  • 28 Aug 2026 partial day, no data 20:00-23:59: our collector was down (machine off or power cut)
  • 29 Jul – 26 Aug 2026 no collection: the volunteer BODS archive was down and our own collector had not yet started
  • 28 Jul 2026 partial day, no data 11:00-23:59: no collection: the volunteer BODS archive was down and our own collector had not yet started
  • 7 Jul 2026 partial day, no data 15:00-15:59: gap in the volunteer BODS archive (its collector was down)
  • 5 Jul 2026 partial day, no data 06:00-11:59: gap in the volunteer BODS archive (its collector was down)
  • 4 Jul 2026 partial day, no data 06:00-21:59: gap in the volunteer BODS archive (its collector was down)
  • 2 Jul – 3 Jul 2026 gap in the volunteer BODS archive (its collector was down)
  • 8 Jun 2026 partial day, no data 07:00-08:59: gap in the volunteer BODS archive (its collector was down)
  • 7 Jun 2026 partial day, no data 12:00-12:59, 18:00-19:59: gap in the volunteer BODS archive (its collector was down)
  • 6 Jun 2026 partial day, no data 12:00-12:59, 16:00-16:59, 18:00-18:59: gap in the volunteer BODS archive (its collector was down)
  • 27 Apr 2026 partial day, no data 12:00-12:59: gap in the volunteer BODS archive (its collector was down)
  • 21 Apr 2026 partial day, no data 06:00-11:59: gap in the volunteer BODS archive (its collector was down)
  • 20 Apr 2026 partial day, no data 15:00-23:59: gap in the volunteer BODS archive (its collector was down)
  • 16 Apr 2026 partial day, no data 12:00-15:59: gap in the volunteer BODS archive (its collector was down)
  • 28 Feb 2026 partial day, no data 06:00-18:59: gap in the volunteer BODS archive (its collector was down)
  • 16 Feb – 27 Feb 2026 gap in the volunteer BODS archive (its collector was down)
  • 15 Feb 2026 partial day, no data 16:00-23:59: gap in the volunteer BODS archive (its collector was down)
  • 30 Jan 2026 partial day, no data 20:00-23:59: gap in the volunteer BODS archive (its collector was down)
  • 25 Dec 2025 no bus service on Christmas Day
  • 23 Dec 2025 partial day, no data 06:00-07:59: gap in the volunteer BODS archive (its collector was down)
  • 5 Dec 2025 partial day, no data 06:00-08:59: gap in the volunteer BODS archive (its collector was down)
  • 24 Nov 2025 partial day, no data 17:00-17:59: gap in the volunteer BODS archive (its collector was down)
  • 17 Nov 2025 partial day, no data 06:00-09:59: gap in the volunteer BODS archive (its collector was down)
  • 15 Nov – 16 Nov 2025 no London vehicles in the national feed — TfL's export to BODS was down (the volunteer archive itself was collecting)
  • 14 Nov 2025 partial day, no data 06:00-07:59, 13:00-23:59: gap in the volunteer BODS archive (its collector was down)
  • 31 Oct 2025 partial day, no data 06:00-07:59: gap in the volunteer BODS archive (its collector was down)
  • 17 Oct 2025 partial day, no data 06:00-07:59: gap in the volunteer BODS archive (its collector was down)
  • 10 Oct 2025 partial day, no data 06:00-08:59: gap in the volunteer BODS archive (its collector was down)
  • 3 Oct 2025 partial day, no data 06:00-11:59: gap in the volunteer BODS archive (its collector was down)
  • 19 Sept 2025 partial day, no data 06:00-08:59: gap in the volunteer BODS archive (its collector was down)
  • 5 Sept 2025 partial day, no data 06:00-09:59: gap in the volunteer BODS archive (its collector was down)
  • 1 Aug 2025 partial day, no data 06:00-09:59: gap in the volunteer BODS archive (its collector was down)
  • 18 Jul 2025 partial day, no data 06:00-09:59: gap in the volunteer BODS archive (its collector was down)
  • 8 Jul 2025 partial day, no data 06:00-08:59: gap in the volunteer BODS archive (its collector was down)
  • 6 Jul – 7 Jul 2025 gap in the volunteer BODS archive (its collector was down)
  • 5 Jul 2025 partial day, no data 18:00-23:59: gap in the volunteer BODS archive (its collector was down)
  • 4 Jul 2025 partial day, no data 06:00-14:59: gap in the volunteer BODS archive (its collector was down)
  • 25 Jun 2025 partial day, no data 06:00-11:59: gap in the volunteer BODS archive (its collector was down)

For latest timetable and route information, see TfL's official page.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0; bus data via the DfT Bus Open Data Service and Transport for London. Figures are computed from observed bus positions, every day, 05:00–23:59. How these figures are made. Bus positions from the Department for Transport’s Bus Open Data Service (BODS); the Department for Transport cannot warrant the accuracy or quality of the data published there. Positions before September 2026 come from the Bus Open Data archive generously built and kept by Open Innovations, with thanks. Route lines and stops: Powered by TfL Open Data. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database rights 2016. Geomni UK Map data © and database rights [2019]. These pages and the bus replay are built independently from open data: Transport for London, the Department for Transport and the bus operators had no part in making them, and none of them endorses them. Not for planning a journey.