A Bakerloo Line underground train carriage is seen in the workshop. (Image: Getty Images)
A multi-billion-pound transport project that could help South London reach its full potential is currently being considered by the government, but commuters are urging them to hurry up.
Transport for London (TfL) is considering additions to the unloved Bakerloo Line, which would see the route—which currently stretches from Harrow & Wealdstone down to Elephant and Castle—extended further into south London.
The line would then extend to existing stations at New Cross Gate and Lewisham, linking them up to the Tube network, with new stations proposed at Old Kent Road and Burgess Park at a cost of up to a staggering £8.7 billion.
Elephant and Castle station would get an upgrade too, with a new Bakerloo line ticket hall being installed, TfL has said.
Kyle AKA City Moose, a You Tuber who makes videos about the UK’s train network said: “It would be the biggest change to the tube network in decades.
Passengers on the under used Bakerloo Line (Image: Getty Images)
“The Bakerloo line currently only gets half the ridership of the Piccadilly Line and a third of the most used lines like the Northern and the Central Line.
“The Bakerloo line is not being used to its fullest potential in the way the other tube lines are.”
The extension could provide a £1.5bn boost to the economy each year, according to Shadi Shekarrizi, AECOM’s rail director for London and the South East.
She said the new stations would support regeneration and incentivise new housing development while reducing traffic congestion and overcrowding on local public transport and improving air quality.
But if the proposals are approved, there will still be a long wait. TfL has said construction could start in the 2030s, with the extension up and running by 2040.
Away from the tube network, TfL is also weighing whether to extend the DLR.
If approved, the project would see the line extended across the Thames, with new stations at Beckton Riverside and in Thamesmead, which a tunnel would link.
TfL hopes to secure funding to start construction in 2028 and open the stations to customers in the early 2030s.
If approved, the extension, based on 2021 figures, is estimated to cost between £5.2bn and £8.7bn.
Transport for London (TfL) is appealing to the government for funding.
Over the next few months, TfL hopes to encourage the acceleration of its finance request once designs by architects at WW+P are under way, with civil engineering matters managed by AECOM.
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has proposed setting up a “Bakerloop” bus service as an interim service.
This year, Mr Khan’s re-election manifesto included a pledge “to work with a Labour government to take the necessary steps to give Londoners the services they deserve”, including a “push” for the Bakerloo line extension.
The leader of Brent Council, Muhammed Butt, wrote to the Government back in August urging it to release the project’s required funding, arguing that the project could “unlock 20,400 homes and 9,700 jobs and deliver a £1.5bn boost to our national economy”.
A further extension to the line, towards Hayes and Beckenham Junction, has been proposed but is not part of the current study.