UK: Transport for London has begun public consultation on proposals to extend the Docklands Light Railway from Gallions Reach to Beckton Riverside and under the River Thames to Thamesmead.
’The DLR extension is central to the regeneration of Thamesmead and would transform the area, just like the Elizabeth Line has done for Woolwich and Abbey Wood’, said Cllr Anthony Okereke, Leader of the Royal Borough of Greenwich, when the consultation opened in February 5.
A strategic outline case for the extension of the automated light metro and improvements to bus services was submitted to the government by TfL and its local partners in 2023.
Feedback from the consultation which is open until March 18 will be used to inform the development of an outline business case.
The aim is to agree an affordable option by 2025, to enable construction to begin in 2028 for opening in the early 2030s.
Funding for the feasibility work has been provided to date by private and public sector bodies with an interest in regenerating the area, but construction is unfunded.
TfL said it would identify local and regional funding, but the scale of the project means that ‘some degree of external support’ would be required.
