What and where is the Bakerloo line extension?
There are plans to extend the Bakerloo line beyond its current southern terminus at Elephant & Castle. Various possible routes have been suggested in recent years, including an extension to Streatham, Peckham, Bromley or Beckenham. TfL ran a consultation in 2014, and another in 2017.
As a result of that 2017 consultation, the most likely route is to extend the Bakerloo line out to Lewisham, via Old Kent Road.
Which stations will be on the Bakerloo line extension. Where will the new stations be?
Four new stations are proposed for the Bakerloo line extension. Two brand new stations will be built along the Old Kent Road (working titles: Old Kent Road 1 and Old Kent Road 2), while Bakerloo stations will be added next to the existing stations at New Cross Gate and Lewisham.
New Bakerloo line station: Old Kent Road 1
Two possible sites were put forward for building Old Kent Road 1 station, one at the junction of Mandela Way and Dunton Road, and another between Dunton Road and Humphrey Street. Following the 2017 consultation, the latter is the favourite — which means that the future of a large Tesco may be at risk:
New Bakerloo line station: Old Kent Road 2
The second planned Old Kent Road station will be sited further south-east than the first. A site between St James's Road and Sandgate Street was considered, but it's more likely that the corner of Asylum Road (home to Toys 'R' Us until recently) will be used:
New Bakerloo line station: New Cross Gate
The plan at New Cross Gate is to build a new Underground station alongside, but separate from, the current London Overground station — although there may well be interlinking access between the two. The plans show the Bakerloo line station positioned across the Sainsbury's petrol station, part of the car park and part of the retail estate which houses TK Maxx and the like, so there's a chance these will be demolished to make way for the Bakerloo line.
New Bakerloo line station: Lewisham
Thurston Road is the proposed site for a Bakerloo line terminus in Lewisham. TfL's plans show a new station between the current National Rail station, and the retail buildings currently housing Matalan and Mothercare:
Bakerloo line extension: Elephant & Castle station
There will also be an extension/redevelopment of the current Elephant & Castle station to allow for the extension. This included integration the Northern and Bakerloo line ticket halls with each other, and making it easier for passengers to switch between the two lines (as they're currently very far apart), as well as interchanging with Thameslink and National Rail services. There are more details on the plans, but it sounds like there are still a lot of decisions to be made at this station.
Bricklayers Arms station
There was talk of an additional new station, Bricklayers Arms, between Elephant & Castle and Old Kent Road, but due to cost and increased journey times, TfL announced in 2018 that this will not happen. It's considered too close to other existing and planned tube stations to be worthwhile.
What about future extensions to the Bakerloo line?
There is the option to extend the extension further, down towards Bromley, in the future, but given the number of large scale infrastructure already underway in the capital (Crossrail, Crossrail 2, Northern Line extension, HS2...), we can't see this happening for a very long time.
In September 2018, TfL said:
The Mayor and TfL remain committed to delivering a second phase of the extension beyond Lewisham, and work is continuing to build a case for it.
When will the Bakerloo line extension open?
2029 is the current date being given for the first passenger trains running on the extension all the way down to Lewisham. This is based on a plan for building work to begin in 2023.
What zone will the Bakerloo line extension go to?
Lewisham, the intended (at least initially) terminus of the extension, currently sits on the zone 2/3 border. while stations before this are firmly within zone 2.
How much will the Bakerloo line extension cost?
£3.1bn is the figure being thrown around for constructing the extension, including tunnelling and new stations. It's a bit of a sticking point that funding hasn't yet been secured — that all depends on central government supporting the plans. As we all know, these things have a habit of going over budget anyway — here's hoping the overspend and missed deadline of Crossrail don't have a financial effect on the Bakerloo line, nor push back its timeline.
Next steps for the Bakerloo line extension
Following the results of the 2017 consultation being released in September 2018, a more detailed public consultation will take place in 2019 to fine tune the details further. Following this, the final plans will be put in place, with building work expected to start in 2023. This all rests on central government approving the project and the funding being assigned — for more information on that, take a look at the Back the Bakerloo campaign.
For more information, visit TfL's Bakerloo line extension webpage and the Bakerloo line consultation page.
