How close is South East London to getting a Tube line?

The Underground is due for one of its biggest changes in years after the Bakerloo line could be extended into South East London.

Londoners living south of the river have been teased with the extension of the Bakerloo line for a decade.

The area currently boasts a train, Overground and DLR connection, but residents say the southern part of the capital is far less connected than its northern counterpart.

In the future, the Bakerloo line could reach further into south London which has been plagued by the lack of Tube compared to the more connected north.

But now the plans might be up in the air again after Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ first Budget failed to promise any money for it.

But projects of this scale come with a hefty price tag and will take years to build.

What are the Bakerloo line extension plans?

Local leaders have argued that the extension could ‘unlock 20,400 homes and 9,700 jobs’ along with an almost £2,000,000,000 boost to the economy.

But now the fate of the line extension could be at risk after the Budget didn’t allocate money for Bakerloo line extension specifically, despite a £485,000,000 pot of money Transport for London (TfL) received for its capital renewals programme.

Sadiq Khan said ahead of the Budget that getting ‘anything’ more than £250,000,000 would be ‘a win,’ BBC News reported. Last year, he had asked for £569,000,000.

Some of it will go towards the new Piccadilly line trains and Elizabeth line carriages to serve the Old Oak Common HS2 station.

The Bakerloo line extension is estimated to cost between £5,000,000,000 and £8,000,000,000, according to a TfL document published in February. This is alongside the planned DLR extension estimated to cost £1,700,000,00.

Previously, Khan said a long-term funding package is ‘a glimpse of the London we can build,’ the broadcaster reported.

Khan said at the London Transport Museum’s annual dinner in early October: ‘And I will – as promised during my re-election campaign – use my position as Mayor to lobby for more transport investment in our city.

‘This includes the DLR extension to Thamesmead, the West London Orbital and the Bakerloo line extension.

‘Projects which would create new jobs, generate good growth, and taken together lead to the construction of tens of thousands of homes for Londoners.’

Alex Williams, TfL’s chief customer and strategy officer, told Metro in a statement that extending the Bakerloo line and upgrading the existing line would ‘connect a historically under-served part of London to the Tube network, while unlocking thousands of new homes that London needs and supporting new jobs.’

He said: ‘We remain committed to delivering the scheme but will need to work with Government and other partners to secure funding to do this.

‘The funding support from the London boroughs of Lewisham and Southwark has enabled us to restart some pieces of work to confirm elements of the planned scheme, including the tunnel design.’

The leader of Brent Council, Muhammed Butt, said in August the extension would give a boost to the economy, with ‘one in six jobs in London within a 12-minute walk of a station,’ the Standard reports.

When would the Bakerloo line extension happen?

The extension plan has been the talk of the town since at least 2014.

TfL ran consultations on its proposals in 2014, 2017 and 2019, with the latest survey revealing that 89% of 9,000 respondents gave positive or supportive comments.

Despite ongoing work behind the scenes to secure the money for the project, construction for the line may not start until the 2030s, depending on funding.

TfL has suggested that trains could start running by 2040, according to BBC News.

For now, TfL has appointed Aecom and WW+P architects to carry out a feasibility study on the plans, industry publication Construction Management reports. Over the next eight months they will look into the design of the four new stations.

In the meantime, a new express bus service called the ‘Bakerloop’ was introduced by the London mayor as part of his election manifesto.

It would connect Lewisham, New Cross Gate, Old Kent Road and Burgess Park with Elephant & Castle along the proposed Tube route.

The Bakerloop buses could be designed to look like the Tube inside with a brown interior colour.

Exact details of the Bakerloop have not been released, including its launch date.

Where would the Bakerloo line extension go?

The extension would put new London locations on the iconic Tube map.

TfL wants to extend the line from Elephant & Castle, where the line currently ends, to along the Old Kent Road.

It would then extend to New Cross Gate – which has a National Rail and a London Overground station – and into Lewisham.

There would be two brand news stops at Burgess Park and Old Kent Road.

New Cross Gate would also get a new station to connect it better to the National Rail, Overground and buses while Lewisham station would be improved as an interchange.

But what do locals think of the Bakerloo line coming to their neighbourhood?

How South East London residents feel about the plans

Those who had heard of the plan were largely welcoming.

Ozzy Yilmaz, 40, owner of 7oZ Coffee in New Cross, told Metro that travel to and from the South East London neighbourhood is smooth enough on the Overground, but buses are slow.

He said: ‘Travelling from here to central London is quite easy as long as the Overground works. But there’s a big but.

‘When the Overground doesn’t work, things start to get harder.’

He hoped to see the Tube to bring ‘more possibilities’ and a ‘good vibe’ to Deptford High Street.

He said locals are billing Deptford High Street as ‘the next Brick Lane’ which has allegedly become ‘plastic’ and ‘not genuine.’

The business owner said the Tube would enable a ‘pop in effect’ for visitors.

He explained: ‘What you’ve got on Deptford High Street is real. But why would you come to Deptford? You have to plan a journey. It doesn’t work that way. But with the Tube you’d have the opportunity to just pop in.’

When asked about transport issues between south and north London, Ozzy said the problem is crossing east to west within south London.

‘Richmond Wimbledon, Clapham, Putney, Camberwell and Greenwich – they’re all next to each other, but they are really disconnected,’ he said.

Faith Onoboh, 40, from Bermondsey, didn’t know about the planned extension but she said it would be ‘great.’ She said having a station at Old Kent Road in her area would make journeys to work easier.

‘It would make such a big difference not having to come all the way here [New Cross] to get to work.’

Dennis Mehmed, 60, from Horton Kerby in Kent, owns Henry’s Hairstylists opposite the New Cross station which his family has run for the past 60 years.

He said it will make a ‘huge difference if we are actually on the Tube map’ which he said would be ‘fantastic.’

His concern was that with an Underground station at New Cross Gate, New Cross could ‘become a bit of a backwater.’ But he thought there are enough people and existing connections ‘to still be okay.’

Mr Mehmed added that he was concerned about property developers buying up the area.

‘It could be the catalyst to some serious changes – and not all good when you think of social housing as it could make the area unaffordable,’ he added.