Bakerloo line extension
The Bakerloo line extension is a proposed extension of the London Underground's Bakerloo line in South London from Elephant & Castle to Lewisham.
An extension southwards from Elephant & Castle was considered as early as 1913, with a formal proposal to extend to Camberwell in the late 1940s. Since the late 2000s, Transport for London has been planning an extension of the line, with a route to Lewisham via Old Kent Road safeguarded in 2021. TfL has also proposed taking over services on the Hayes line to Hayes and Beckenham Junction, which could occur following the completion of the extension to Lewisham.
The extension would serve areas of south-east London with low levels of public transport availability, improving accessibility and reducing journey times. The extension would also support regeneration and housing development in the area. Estimated to cost between £4.7 and £7.9billion, the extension would take around seven years to construct. Due to financial impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, work to implement the extension is currently on hold.
Background
Most of the London Underground network lies north of the River Thames, public transport in South London generally being provided by lower-frequency National Rail suburban services and London Buses.A large area of South-east London has no rail or tube links, and low public transport accessibility levels. This includes places such as Camberwell, Walworth, Burgess Park and the Old Kent Road. Existing railway lines through the area – the South Eastern Main Line and the Holborn Viaduct–Herne Hill line – are already very crowded and at full capacity. There are also no intermediate stations on main lines through this area. Furthermore, TfL states that the bus network along the Old Kent Road operates at "close to capacity" with over 60 buses an hour in some sections.
Unlike most Underground lines, the Bakerloo line terminates in Zone 1 of London. The line is underused compared to other Underground lines. In 2017, around 110 million journeys were made on it, less than half of those on the Central, Northern, Jubilee or Victoria lines, and passenger growth levels have been lower than on other lines. TfL believes that the low level of demand on the line is due to its limited connectivity at the southern end, a lower frequency of service compared to other lines, and the oldest trains on the Underground network.
History
Prior proposals
Before the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway opened between Baker Street and Elephant & Castle in 1906, several alternative schemes were proposed for extending the line at both ends. One failed scheme, the New Cross & Waterloo Railway Bill of 1898, had proposed the construction of a line as far south as, but it was not considered by parliament before it was dropped.The possibility of building a line through Camberwell first emerged in 1913, when the Lord Mayor of London announced a proposal for the Bakerloo Tube to be extended to the Crystal Palace via Camberwell Green, Dulwich and Sydenham Hill. In 1921, the Underground Electric Railways Company of London costed an extension to Camberwell, Dulwich and Sydenham, and in 1922, plans for an extension to Orpington via Loughborough Junction and Catford were considered. No action was taken to move any of these proposals forward. In 1928, a route to Rushey Green via Dulwich was suggested. Again, no action was taken, although the London and Home Counties Traffic Advisory Committee supported the idea of an extension to Camberwell in 1926.
1931 and 1947 extension proposals
In 1931, an extension to Camberwell was approved as part of the London Electric Metropolitan District and Central London Railway Companies Act, 1931. The route was to follow Walworth Road and Camberwell Road south from Elephant & Castle, with stations at Albany Road and under at Camberwell. Elephant & Castle was also to be reconstructed with a third platform to provide the additional turn-round capacity, a new ticket hall and escalators. The need to prioritise the extension from to to provide relief for the Metropolitan line, financial constraints and the outbreak of the Second World War prevented any work from starting.The 1931 enabling powers were renewed by the Government in 1947 under the Special Enactments Act, 1940, and the projected extension as far as Camberwell even appeared on a 1949 edition of the Underground map, but no further work was done. Train indication signs showing Camberwell as a destination were created in anticipation of the southern extension and erected in some Tube stations; these signs were still visible at until the 1990s. Also, the order for 1949 Stock – built to augment the 1938 stock fleet – included sufficient cars to provide extra trains for the Camberwell extension.
Eventually the proposal faded away. Extensions and new stations were not in favour post-war, as road use increased massively. However, the problem of inadequate turn-round capacity at Elephant & Castle remained. The plan was briefly revived in the 1950s with the intermediate station now to be at Walworth and the terminus under Camberwell Green. Elephant & Castle would not be altered and the additional turn-round capacity would be provided by making Camberwell a three-platform terminus.
The original intention to extend to Camberwell was driven by the wish to serve the area, but in the later scheme operational issues were a major consideration. By the time the Bakerloo line branches to and had opened, the line was running at full capacity, limited by the need to terminate trains at Elephant & Castle. By extending to Camberwell, where there would be three platforms, the whole line would have benefited from an improved frequency. However, "stepping back" made the best use of the terminal capacity at Elephant & Castle, and this weakened the case for an extension from Elephant & Castle.
By 1950, post-war austerity, the levelling-off of demand, and above all the disproportionately high cost of the project with a three-platform deep-level terminus and the need to purchase 14 further trains and build a new depot for them, meant that the project became unaffordable and it was cancelled. Demand on the Bakerloo line was relieved following construction of the Jubilee line in the 1970s, as the Stanmore branch now solely served the new Jubilee line.
1970s and 1980s extension proposals
In the 1970s, the Greater London Council considered extending the line to Peckham Rye, however this proposal was not taken forward due to high costs, low ridership projections and subsequent poor value for money.In the late 1980s, following overcrowding in Central London and proposed growth in Docklands, the Central London Rail Study was commissioned. Within the report, two extensions of the Bakerloo line were considered – an extension to Lewisham along the Old Kent Road, and an extension to Canary Wharf and Docklands. Neither proposal was taken forward. Subsequently, the Jubilee line was extended to serve Canary Wharf and the Docklands as part of the Jubilee Line Extension, which opened in 1999.
2000s
In the early 2000s, Transport for London under Mayor Ken Livingstone proposed the Cross River Tram, a new light rail system running south from Kings Cross, Camden and Euston through Central London to Waterloo, with two branches serving Brixton and Peckham. The line would serve areas such as Walworth or Peckham not served by Underground or National Rail stations, provide fully accessible journeys thanks to low floor trams, and provide faster journeys than existing bus services. Consultation on the proposed tram took place in 2006–7, with the tram line proposed to open in 2016 at a cost of around £1.3bn.Throughout the early 2000s, no Bakerloo line extensions were being considered by TfL, as the Public Private Partnership to upgrade the Underground did not include provision for line extensions within the PPP contracts. However, it was noted that there could be demand for a Bakerloo line extension in future decades. Following the election of Mayor Boris Johnson, the Cross River Tram was cancelled in 2008 due to lack of funding.
In November 2006, TfL published a transport strategic report for London, Transport 2025: transport challenges for a growing city. The report considered a variety of long-term transport improvements in London, with a Bakerloo extension considered as the most beneficial option for extending the Tube in South London. It considered three route options for the Bakerloo line; from Elephant & Castle, the proposed routes were either south to Camberwell and Streatham, or east to Beckenham and Hayes:
Option 1: via Burgess Park, east to and, with the option of taking over the Hayes Line to terminate at
Option 2: south to Camberwell Green, and then on to and, with a branch at which would take over the National Rail line to
Option 3: a similar route to option 1, but after Burgess Park running via the Old Kent Road and before joining the Hayes line at and terminating at Hayes.
A subsequent feasibility report into an extension of the Bakerloo line from Elephant & Castle was commissioned by TfL in 2007, with potential routes south to Camberwell and Streatham, or east to Beckenham and Hayes. However, the Mayor stated that the immediate focus of TfL was on renewing and upgrading existing lines, and that further work on an extension of the line would not begin until the mid 2010s in the subsequent Business Plan.
Current project
2010s
In May 2010, Mayor Boris Johnson published the Mayor's Transport Strategy, which outlined the Mayor's plans for public transport in the capital. The MTS specifically supported a southern extension of the Bakerloo line, noting that it would utilise spare Bakerloo line capacity, serve areas with low transport connectivity, and relieve congested National Rail lines into central London. The proposal was noted, however, to be a long-term project, requiring further study by TfL.A consultant's report for Lewisham Council in 2010 analysed the costs and benefits of a variety of different routes for a Bakerloo extension, with costs between £1.6bn and £3.6bn, depending on the destination and the route option chosen. The report also stated that the Northern line extension to Battersea and the Piccadilly line upgrade were "ahead in the investment queue", and therefore work was unlikely to begin until the 2020s. TfL's view was that "A key advantage of the Hayes option is that releases train paths into London Bridge".
In July 2011, Network Rail published a long-term planning document for London and the South East – the Route Utilisation Strategy. This recommended an extension of the Bakerloo line from Elephant & Castle to Lewisham, where it would take over the line to Hayes and thus release capacity on National Rail lines into Charing Cross. In January 2012, Network Rail published a summary of its London & South East RUS recommendations, which stated that further feasibility work on an extension was required. In March 2012, Lewisham Council's consultant on the Bakerloo extension advised: "There is a good to strong, but not overwhelming case for a Bakerloo extension", explaining many other rail projects in the London area were competing for funding – including Crossrail 2 and Tube upgrades.
In early 2013, Mayor Johnson confirmed that detailed feasibility work into the extension by TfL was underway, and that Southwark Council was working out the level of development required to justify the economic case for the extension. In early 2014, Mayor Johnson stated that the Old Kent Road would be designated as an Opportunity Area, causing concern that this could cause TfL to prefer a route via Old Kent Road rather than Camberwell. In July 2014, the London Infrastructure Plan 2050 further supported the Bakerloo line extension as a long term transport project for London.