Thamesmead Rapid Transit bus scheme approved for Abbey Wood and Woolwich link
A Rapid Transit bus scheme has been approved after two years of talk and a fresh delay recently announced.
The route is designed to run from North Thamesmead to both Abbey Wood and Woolwich to connect with the Elizabeth line. Announced in 2023 by the previous government, it was confirmed this week with funds from Homes England.
However at just £23 million it’s unlikely to go far. That £23 million total was first announced in 2023 with completion by 2026. That’s now delayed to 2029 but the budget remains the same. With high inflation recently seen it’s not going to stretch very far.
It’s also a trifling sum compared to the £1.6+ billion for the DLR to North Thamesmead with much of the budget taken by a tunnel under the Thames for just one stop in the north of Thamesmead someway remote from much of the town.
The discrepancy in funding allocation is stark given the Bus Rapid Transit scheme could potentially serve many more new homes than the DLR – particularly if built as light rail/tram with higher capacity vehicles than buses. TfL once planned similar until then-Mayor Boris Johnson cut the project.
The new BRT plan is far more limited in scope than the old Greenwich Waterfront Transit plan and does not extend west through Charlton and Greenwich.
If the idea is to facilitate new housing the DLR to north Thamesmead plan is poor at achieving that compared to the potential of a Rapid Transit or tram – yet swallows far more in funding.
Housing
The Bus Rapid Transit plan enables 3,000 homes at a cost of £23 million with the DLR permitting 7,500 homes at near enough a billion. The £1.6bn DLR extension project isn’t all for Thamesmead with the proposed extension creating new station in Beckton Riverside. That’s an excellent idea given housing potential there and lack of high frequency, high capacity rail links nearby.
Ideally that’s where it would end, and money for a tunnel under the Thames instead used for greatly improved transport links serving all of Thamesmead, linking to Abbey Wood and Woolwich stations and serving nearby growth area via high capacity vehicles.
Extending to north Thamesmead via an expensive tunnel? That’s taking the bulk of any available transport fund in the coming decades and appears very poor value for money given the Rapid Transit plan sees so little.
The BRT at £23 million is likely to amount to some new bus stops and the odd road layout change and that’s about it. Hardly transformative for much new housing. It won’t go to Belvedere and Erith in the east where 14k new homes could be built.
It won’t extend beyond Woolwich to the west and on to Charlton where 8,000 homes are proposed via the Riverside masterplan with a public-transport spine route nor Greenwich peninsula where 25,000 are on the cards.
Limited funds
At just £23 million we won’t see high capacity vehicles such as trams serving major growth areas with tens of thousands of homes. It’ll be standard buses for vast areas of planned housing growth.
Edinburgh trams carry 250 people. Some in Europe can carry 368 people. Four times as many at a time compared to a London double decker at around 90 people.
For every tram that’s a need for almost three to four buses to serve new homes. Double decker buses are also slower at boarding and alighting.
Higher capacity vehicles are ideal to move residents moving to tens of thousands of new homes across the north of Greenwich and Bexley boroughs. Not all are close to railway stations.
A tram network shifting large numbers of people would feed into heavy rail such as the Elizabeth line, National Rail as well as the tube at North Greenwich.
A BRT? Not so much. It’s a glorified bus. Well, not even that. Other Bus Rapid Transits have dedicated tracks. None of that for £23 million.
DLR
It’s been stated the Rapid Transit will feed people to the DLR in north Thamesmead. That seems unlikely and perhaps shows a lack of knowledge of the town.
If a bus is required to reach the new DLR – which it will for many existing parts of sprawling Thamesmead – then it’ll be no quicker to reach than the Elizabeth line stations in Abbey Wood and Woolwich. Take Thamesmead central for example, as seen below.
This area is three minutes on a bus from Abbey Wood station. There’s scope for new homes – but the DLR isn’t stopping anywhere near and the BRT is low capacity buses.
That then stymies housing growth potential.
Ultimately we are seeing vast sums for the DLR to poke its head into the top of Thamesmead and serve no further – at vast cost.
Meanwhile a project that could assist with far, far more new homes across north Bexley and Greenwich boroughs gains penny change in comparison.
It makes a mockery of claims the Thamesmead DLR station is great for housebuilding. Vast cost for 7.5k homes? 7.5k homes that could be built anyway with a tram connection to nearby stations in Woolwich and Abbey Wood.
By swallowing funds that could instead create a Rapid Transit scheme south of the river to assist tens of thousands of homes – as well as halting a Dagenham extension to serve 23k potential homes north of the river – it’s not exactly great use of money to push housing forward in various areas.
Rising totals
Housing totals keep increasing under the new draft Local Plan for Greenwich borough. Greenwich Council plan more homes via estate redevelopments in places like west Woolwich someway from Woolwich town centre. Exactly the areas a tram could assist and the old Greenwich Waterfront Transit scheme would have passed.
None of this would be as big an issue is funding was plentiful to enable the DLR and other projects but it isn’t. The Thamesmead DLR plan will be at the expense of other projects for the next 20 years.
In that context £23 million looks a bit of a bad joke. Such paucity in funding and scope could hamper the development of many thousands of homes likely exceed those homes enabled by the DLR in Thamesmead.
The question still remains: what plan is there for improved transport tens of thousands of proposed homes in towns like Erith, Belvedere, Charlton and Greenwich peninsula? The DLR – and this budget scheme – are not the answer.
I think the DLR to Thamesmead is a great idea. My only ask would be, to make it wide enough to allow it suitable for vehicles too.
If this rapid bus trainsit system (BRT) happens It could use existing roads and bus lanes wherher possible with new dedicated bus lanes where possible.
However, the buses would need to operate a high frequency service daily about every 7 to 8 minutes peak hours and Monday to Saturday day times and every 10 minutes evenings Sundays and Public Holidays. Unlike the Superloop routes the BRT will need to be a stopping service serving as many homes has possible. Especially the thousands of new homes due to be built in the Thamesmead and Woolwich areas.
Personally I think the BRT has xcope to be extended to the Charlton Riverside development where thousands of new homes are due to be built.
They made an update on the new and withdrawn DLR trains
Dlr extension is rubbish. Living in thamesmead west with local knowledge it is so pointless ans yet kills so many better options
– overground extension to plumstead to make an orbital ring
– Badly needed road changes to roads not touched since the 70s
– Funding to get new buses from thamesmead to woolwich to the o2 or eltham
– A proper road tunnel out near thamesmead / erith
Such a disappointing use of public money and massive lost opportunity cost.
Overground is limited to 4tph and only five carriages at that.
It’s why it’s not enough for now doubled 20k planned new homes in Barking Riverside and the DLR would be better going there and Dagenham as originally planned.
New buses south of the river are too low capacity for tens of thousands of homes. It’s why a tram makes sense. Each tram is equivalent to 4 double decker buses with quicker boarding and alighting.