A Labour council has told the Government to listen to its pleas to extend a crucial UK railway network. The London Underground’s Bakerloo line currently runs from Harrow and Wealdstone to Elephant and Castle in the south of the capital, which is relatively poorly connected when compared to the city above the River Thames. The scheme would see an intitial extension from Elephant and Castle to Lewisham, which is to cost between £5.2billion and £8.7billion, according to figures from 2021.
Making the railway even longer beyond Lewisham to Hayes may require a further £800million to £1.9billion of funding. “The right thing to do here is to invest capital to upgrade the line,” Labour Councillor Shama Tatler said in a video from Southwark Council. “It is as shovel ready as any transport scheme ever is,” John Dickie, Chief Executive of Business LDN, added.
Cllr Tatler then said: “Together with Lewisham, Southwark, Westminster and everyone who lives across the Bakerloo line, we need the Government to hear us.”
Brenda Dacres, the Mayor of Lewisham, added: “With a housing crisis and the urgent need to boost the economy, now’s the time to back the Bakerloo.”
Officials claim the project would result in a £1.5billion uplift to the economy, 100,000 new homes, 150,000 new jobs across the UK supply chain, 20,000 fewer car journeys and 150,000 more public transport journeys.
The Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, is due to unveil her Spring Statement on Wednesday. Last week, she said ministers are “determined to turn around the poor performance of more than a decade” after it was announced that the UK economy had shrunk in January.
Ms Reeves told broadcasters: “This Government is determined to turn around the poor performance of more than a decade when it comes to growth, and we need to go further and faster in growing our economy, in ensuring that we boost our national security and defence, and reforming our public services.
“That’s why the Prime Minister set out yesterday reforms to regulation. That’s why this week we’ve introduced the Planning and Infrastructure Bill to get Britain building again.
“But we must go further and faster to boost living standards and grow our economy.”
Before Labour won the general election last year, Reeves was asked whether she would provide funding for the Bakerloo line extension and other planned projects in London.
She said: “Of course I want to see the investment in infrastructure our country needs to grow after 14 years of mismanagement.
“But we have to always show where the money is going to come from, and we need to grow the economy to be able to release funds for crucial infrastructure investment.”
