Every railway line extension in London: Sadiq Khan's Thamesmead DLR ambition gets to next stage

The Mayor of London wants to extend the service south of Gallions Reach with a new station called Beckton Riverside and then for the new terminus south of the Thames.

On Monday, he received backing from the government with the transport secretary Heidi Alexander showing support for this next stage of consultation.

Transport for London (TfL) has said the link would make it possible to get from Thamesmead to Stratford, a journey that currently takes 50 plus minutes, in under half an hour. It would also speed up the current hour-long trek to Tottenham Court Road to 30 minutes.

Extending the DLR under a new tunnel would cost £1.7bn, an amount currently unfunded, but TfL has said it would be justified in providing 30,000 homes and 10,000 jobs.

Alex Williams, TfL’s chief customer and strategy officer, said in a statement: "The case to extend the DLR from Gallions Reach to Thamesmead via Beckton Riverside is clear as it provides a crucial opportunity to create new homes, jobs and economic growth by linking two major growth areas with two new accessible stations.”

It is far from the only project Sir Sadiq is looking to get signed off. Here are some of the transport plans that could transform London in the years to come.

West London Orbital railway

One of Sir Sadiq’s big three, the West London Orbital rail service would run from Hounslow towards Hendon and West Hampstead in the north.

This new service would make use of lines that are currently underused or used for freight train services only. Stakeholders are currently putting together a business case with a dream of bringing the lines into action in the early 2030s.

Bakerloo line extension

Much-longer in the works, consultations were held in 2014, 2017, and 2019, into the potential for the Bakerloo line to be extended south from Elephant and Castle to Burgess Park, Old Kent Road, New Cross Gate, and Lewisham.

“A viable funding package is needed to build the Bakerloo line extension,” TfL has said of the latest. “We'll continue discussions with the Government while being realistic about the funding London could contribute to an extension over the coming years.”

DLR extension to Thamesmead

Moving the DLR under the Thames would provide Thamesmead with its first direct train link - the town being the only post code in London to not have one.

The consultation phase is now moving forward and a proper business case will be presented in the autumn. A previous consultation showed that 75 per cent of respondents were in favour.

The second consultation is open from Monday, June 23, to August 17 and can be seen here.

There is also potential to extend the line further south towards the Elizabeth line junction of Abbey Wood.

Not coming soon: Crossrail 2

One project that has gone off the rails is Crossrail 2, a mid 2010s for a second Elizabeth line style link to run from Broxbourne in Hertfordshire down to Epsom, Shepperton, and Chessington in London’s far south west.

Funding for the project was paused in October 2020.