Thousands of Southwark residents have made their support for the Bakerloo line extension known in a recent consultation.
Out of 15,000 respondents to Transport for London’s online survey more than 2,500 were from Southwark, with 99 per cent saying they supported proposals to extend the tube line through either Camberwell and Peckham or down the Old Kent Road.
When asked which route they would support, 64 per cent said Camberwell and Peckham, and 49 per cent said the Old Kent Road.
Half of those supporting the Camberwell route said it was because roads and public transport in the area are already congested, with almost half of those supporting the Old Kent Road route saying it was needed to support development opportunities in the future.
Although Southwark Council has previously pushed for a forked extension going down both routes, this option did not appear in the consultation.
Some respondents did propose a two-route option, which Richard de Cani, TfL’s Managing Director for Planning, said would be considered “as well a number of other alternative routes.”
Southwark’s cabinet member for regeneration, planning and transport, Mark Williams, said “We will continue to push for both, as they are both needed for our current and future residents. For too long our part of London has been poorly served by the tube and we have an historic opportunity to put this right,” he said.
Liberal Democrat candidate for Bermondsey and Old Southwark, Simon Hughes invited Danny Alexander, Chief Secretary of the Treasury, to the Elephant and Castle last week to “explain how important an extension to the Bakerloo line is to our part of London.”
“I will now be writing again to Danny to make crystal clear how important it is that there is a two-branch extension, serving both Camberwell and the Old Kent Road,” he said.
Construction of the £3billion extension is due to start by 2025 and be completed during the early 2030s.