TfL urged to extend the DLR to Abbey Wood to connect residents across Greenwich

Calls have been made to extend the DLR further into South East London.

Councillors in Greenwich are urging Transport for London to extend the DLR so it reaches more residents across the borough.

Draft plans are in place to extend the trainline to Thamesmead already – but councillors want it to go further and service residents at Abbey Wood too.

This would mean the total extension would be around four miles.

The plans would have seen a new station built at Beckton that would connect to Thamesmead via a new Thames bridge or tunnel.

But Plans for any extension have been held up due to the pandemic and uncertainty over funding but TFL have confirmed plans remain on the table.

TfL representative Ami Ibitson told Greenwich’s Regeneration, Transport & Culture Scrutiny Panel that the Thamesmead extension was “still going” and added: “The issue we’ve had is things being paused while we see what happens with the funding.”

Labour councillors David Gardner and Ann Marie Cousins, whose ward is Abbey Wood, both argued extending the DLR further than Thamesmead would be good for connectivity in the east of Greenwich.

They added that it help Thamesmead’s residents access new Crossrail services in Abbey Wood.

Cllr Gardner said: “It would make a huge difference. The DLR is not the fastest form of transport, but if it carried on to Abbey Wood, it would open up the Royal Docks to people in Abbey Wood and people in Thamesmead would get much faster access all the way along the Elizabeth line and North Kent line.”

A Thamesmead extension would run from the existing Beckton branch and would serve local sites like the new Thamesmead Waterfront scheme and the planned development at Beckton Riverside.

It would mark the latest update to TfL which saw the two new stations added to the Northern line in September and plans to reinstate the Night Tube announced last month.