News - TFL announce plans for an extension to the Bakerloo Line

The current terminal of the Bakerloo line,
9th February 2017 

The Bakerloo line, which terminates at Elephant & Castle, will be extended further South East to Lewisham. The planned extension will see four new stations being added to the London Underground network with two new stations at Old Kent Road, a connection with the Overground at New Cross Gate, and a connection with the DLR at Lewisham. But the plans will not stop there. There is potential for the Bakerloo Line to extended further into south east London in the future. 

Interior of a 1972 stock at Elephant & Castle,
9th February 2017

TFL want the extension to be completed by 2029, in line with the upgraded plans to the rest of the line. Since 2014, the Bakerloo line has the oldest stock of train on the entire network, with the 1972 stock. By 2033, the Bakerloo line will receive a new stock of train, the New Tube for London (NTfL). The NTfL will be rolled out to the Piccadilly line, Central line and Waterloo & City line in 2025, 2030 and 2032 respectively. This new stock of train will increase the capacity of the Bakerloo line alone by 25%. 

DLR sign at Cutty Sark for Maritime Greenwich,
9th February 2017

What does this mean for the DLR?

If the plans go ahead, it will increase the number of Underground lines the DLR network is connected to from seven to eight. This is important as the DLR is often wrongly seen as being poorly connected. Furthermore, Lewisham will be the first DLR station south of the river Thames to have an interchange with a London Underground line. 

Cool Fact

The extension will mean that Elephant & Castle will no longer be a terminating station, and thus making the Waterloo & City line the only line to have a terminating station(s) in zone 1. 

The Bakerloo line extension will be part of a series of planned extensions to the London Underground network. Already being built is the Metropolitan line extension, which will see the closure of Watford station. However, new stations will be open at Casslobridge and Watford Vicarage Road, as well as two London Overground stations being added to the Underground network at Watford High Street and Watford Junction. However, a report in the Watford Observer reveals how construction has recently halted. On the other hand, the Northern Line Extension (NLE) is expected to open in 2020, and this will see two new stations added to the Network at Battersea Power Station and Nine Elms. There is a possibility for the NLE to expanded in the future to Clapham Junction also.