The Docklands Light Railway extension to Thamesmead is a proposed Docklands Light Railway (DLR) extension to serve the Beckton Riverside and

Thamesmead Thamesmead is an area of south-east London, England, straddling the border between the Royal Borough of Greenwich and the London Borough of Bexley. It is located east of Charing Cross, north-east of Woolwich and west of Erith. It mainly consi ...

redevelopment areas of

East London East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the f ...

. Mooted in the late 2010s, the extension was first formally proposed by Transport for London (TfL) as part of the Thamesmead and Abbey Wood Opportunity Area Planning Framework (OAPF), with proposed stations at 'Beckton Riverside' and 'Thamesmead Central'.

Project development

Background

, built on former marshland on the south bank of the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...

in East London, was developed by the

Greater London Council The Greater London Council (GLC) was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council (LCC) which had covered a much smaller area. The GLC was dissolved in 198 ...

from the 1960s onwards to meet the demand from Londoners for social housing. As part of the initial development of the area in the 1970s, the area was intended to be served by the (then) Fleet line and an infill railway station at Church Manor Way. However, plans for the railway station never came to fruition, and the Jubilee line was only extended to Stratford in 1999, with passive provision at North Greenwich for a second branch which would have a route to Thamesmead via the former

North London line The North London line (NLL) is a railway line which passes through the inner suburbs of west, north-west, north, and east London, England between Richmond in the south-west and Stratford in the east, avoiding central London. Its route is a rou ...

to North Woolwich, which itself is now used by Crossrail. As a result of these developments, Thamesmead remains as being not directly served by railway services of any kind, with the closest stations being

Plumstead Plumstead is an area in southeast London, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich, England. It is located east of Woolwich. History Until 1965, Plumstead was in the historic counties of England, historic county of Kent and the detail of mu ...

, Abbey Wood and

Belvedere Belvedere (from Italian, meaning "beautiful sight") may refer to: Places Australia *Belvedere, Queensland, a locality in the Cassowary Coast Region Africa *Belvedere (Casablanca), a neighborhood in Casablanca, Morocco *Belvedere, Harare, Zim ...

. Furthermore, the area is in the centre of a gap in major road crossings of the River Thames – with planned road crossings at nearby Gallions Reach and Belvedere never built. Limited passive provision is present in the Docklands Light Railway extension to Woolwich Arsenal for a junction to Thamesmead as of 2005, however following the cancellation of the Docklands Light Railway extension to Dagenham Dock and the Thames Gateway Bridge in 2008, TfL considered other ways to assist with the development of the Beckton Riverside and

areas throughout the 2010s. Options proposed included: * new downstream

river crossings A river crossing is a means to get from one river bank to the other and may refer to: * A ford (crossing) * A bridge * A tunnel * Any type of ferry ** A cable ferry ** A reaction ferry ** A water taxi * an overhead line crossing See also * River c ...

such as the Silvertown Tunnel, Gallions Reach Crossing and Belvedere Crossing * an extension of Crossrail east of Abbey Wood * dedicated high frequency bus services - similar to the Greenwich Waterfront Transit proposal cancelled in 2009 * an extension of the Gospel Oak to Barking line south from Barking Riverside * an extension of the DLR east from

Beckton Beckton is a suburb in east London, England, located east of Charing Cross and part of the London Borough of Newham. Adjacent to the River Thames, the area consisted of unpopulated marshland known as the East Ham Levels in the parishes of Bark ...

. Following the approval of the Silvertown Tunnel in 2018, local campaigners pushed for public transport improvements in the area. Plans for development in Thamesmead continued, with Peabody and Lendlease announcing an £8bn regeneration project in 2019 with over 11,500 new homes to be built. Developers on the south side of the river also pushed for development, with

Aberdeen Standard Investments Abrdn plc (stylised as ‘abrdn’, disemvoweling of "Aberdeen"), formerly Standard Life Aberdeen plc, is a United Kingdom-based global investment company headquartered in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a ...

proposing the redevelopment of

Gallions Reach Shopping Park Gallions Reach Shopping Park is a major out-of-town retail park in Beckton, east London, England. Located on Armada Way beside the River Thames, Gallions Reach is the largest retail park in London and the M25, containing 34 units in an area of ...

Formal proposal

In December 2019, a DLR extension to Thamesmead was formally proposed by TfL as part of the draft Thamesmead and Abbey Wood OAPF, with proposed stations at Armada Riverside in

and

. An extension of the DLR was proposed instead of an extension of the Overground from Barking Riverside, as an Overground extension would have lower connectivity benefits, cost more to operate, have a low frequency of trains (4 per hour) and a construction cost twice as much as a DLR extension as the gradients required to cross the River Thames would require large scale tunnelling works when compared to the DLR. In September 2020, the extension was included in the long term funding submission by TfL to HM Government. The document noted that the extension would cost around £800m, with completion between 2026 and 2030. Following adoption of the OAPF in late 2020, further feasibility and technical work began, funded wholly by landowners and local boroughs.

Route and stations

, the proposed route of DLR extension diverges from the Beckton branch just after Gallions Reach, turning east to pass by

Beckton DLR depot Beckton Depot is the primary railway maintenance depot for the Docklands Light Railway (DLR). History Upon the initial opening of the DLR in 1987, Poplar DLR depot was the primary maintenance depot. But the proposed extension to Beckton would ...

before Beckton Riverside station in Beckton. The route then continues southeast, crossing the river before arriving at a planned Thamesmead Central. The OAPF consultation also noted that the line could be extended in the future to

, Abbey Wood or elsewhere in Bexley in the future, via two other stations.

References

{{Docklands Light Railway Proposed railway stations in England Docklands Light Railway Transport for London Proposed railway lines in London Transport in the Royal Borough of Greenwich Transport in the London Borough of Newham