Chris Read wrote:

Whenever I observe buses on this route, west of Liverpool Street, loadings
are *very* light. However, the latest extension will keep buses 'on stand'
away from the major building work which will shortly overwhelm Blackfriars -
perhaps that was the intention?

Correct, that was why we extended the 388 from Blackfriars to Temple.
The existing stand space will be taken over by Network Rail when they
properly move onto the site, as part of the Blackfriars rebuild. The
creation of a link to Temple is a nice little bonus for those who can't,
or won't, walk once Blackfriars LU is closed.

Cheers

Steve M