The Bakerloo line could be extended to Lewisham by 2029, TfL has confirmed, in its response to a public consultation on the much-awaited line lengthening.
4,800 responses were received in the consultation held in spring 2017. Here are the main take aways from TfL's reponse:
- There is 'strong support' for an extension beyond Elephant & Castle — little surprise there. TfL, however, doesn't mention if any of this support is, in fact, for a suggested alternative Bakerloo line extension, which would have serviced Camberwell and Peckham — this idea has essentially been spiked.
- The extension will create two brand new station sites (working title Old Kent Road 1 and Old Kent Road 2), and add Bakerloo line stations at New Cross Gate and Lewisham.
- Plans for Old Kent Road 1 focus on the site near to the junction with Dunton Road and Humphrey Street. Plans for Old Kent Road 2 focus on the site of the former Toys R Us (thank goodness it recently went bust then) near the junction with Asylum Road. Both locations had the most support in the public consultation.
- There will NOT be an extra station added at Bricklayers Arms, situated between Elephant and Castle and Old Kent Road. Says TfL: "The proposal for an additional station would also considerably increase the overall cost of the extension as well as make journey times longer." This will come as a disappoint to the recent Back The Bakerloo campaign, which included a Bricklayer Arms station in their promotional tube map.
- Elephant and Castle's Bakerloo line station and ticket hall could be integrated with the new Northern line ticket hall — potentially making travel at E&C less befuddling. That would be nice.
- At least 25,000 new homes and 5,000 new jobs have been pledged by TfL, thanks to the proposed extension.
Heidi Alexander, Deputy Mayor for Transport, said: "I'm delighted that plans for the Bakerloo line extension are continuing to progress. New Tube stations providing a direct route for commuters into the heart of central London and the joining up of key transport links across south London will reduce journey times and ease congestion, making a huge difference to the lives of thousands of south Londoners."
There still isn't any word on central government approval and funding, which are necessary for the project to go ahead, so don't get out the party poppers just yet. Let's also hope that recent delays and overspend on Crossrail won't affect all this too much.
