UK: Transport for London has published the results of its public consultation on plans to extend the Docklands Light Railway automated light metro from Gallions Reach to Beckton Riverside and under the River Thames to Thamesmead. This aims to support the development of new housing.
The consultation attracted 1 254 responses from the public and 29 from other stakeholders, with the majority being supportive of the plan.
An interim outline business case will now be produced by spring 2025 as the basis of future development and funding discussions. This will incorporate government feedback on the strategic outline case which was submitted in 2023.
It will include a financing strategy for the project, which is estimated to cost £1bn at 2022 prices. This is currently unfunded, but TfL said it is likely draw on public and private sources at local, regional and national levels. TfL hopes to agree an ‘affordable solution’ by 2025, to enable construction to begin in 2028 for opening in the early 2030s.
Extensions considered
TfL said it had considered options to extend the DLR beyond Thamesmead to Bexley, Belvedere or Abbey Wood, or into Kent and Essex. It also assessed possible extensions of the London Overground or the Elizabeth Line, but these did not offer the same value for money or the capacity needed to enable new development in Beckton Riverside and Thamesmead.
The design process will investigate making provision for a further extension of the line should the funding become available in the future.
The removal of the safeguarding of land for the long-proposed Thames Gateway Bridge will also be explored.
‘Unlock huge opportunities’
On August 2 Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said the extension would ’unlock huge opportunities for London, support tens of thousands of new homes, deliver new transport connections, and boost the economy, supporting the creation of thousands of jobs’.
Mayor of Newham Rokhsana Fiaz said the project ’has the potential to unlock a whole new development in the south of the borough, which would allow us to press ahead with plans to build more affordable homes, improve community spaces, as well as opening up the riverfront to all our residents’.
