Big fare rises on Transport for London next year: DLR Thamesmead is one reason
Fares across many forms of transport in London are set to rise someway above inflation next year with rises of 5.8 per cent.
TfL confirmed the news today which is at the insistence of the Labour government. Mayor Sadiq Khan has defended the increase.
An odd move you may think for a government that claims to want to support housebuilding near stations – but then acts to price people off.
In return for funding support over four years Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander wrote to TfL earlier this year insisting on above-inflation fare rises in return for funds to assist with projects such as buying new Bakerloo line trains which are currently around 50 years old.
In June she stated: “The funding in this settlement is provided against an assumed scenario that overall TfL fares will rise by the value of RPI+1 for each year of this settlement.”
Today saw confirmation of the above-inflation increases on the tube, Elizabeth line, DLR and London Overground journeys.
The deeply flawed Thamesmead DLR extension is also now being given as one reason to enforce high fare increases on many passengers.
DLR plan
For those unware of why the DLR to Thamesmead is flawed look no further at previous schemes cancelled either side of the Thames cancelled by Boris Johnson.
To the north a DLR extension was planned to Dagenham Dock instead of Thamesmead. As London Reconnections highlighted “preparatory work has been done for this right up to the point of applying for a Transport and Works Act order.”
After cancellation the vast Barking Riverside site is now to be reliant on just one London Overground station with five-carriage trains running every 15 minutes rather than three DLR stops every eight minutes to suffice for 20,000 new homes. A total which doubled last year.
Around 3,000 homes at Dagenham Dock will also be reliant on c2c rail which runs as little as every half an hour off-peak.
Sending the DLR through a tunnel at great expense south from Barking Riverside station (a new station which does make sense) to just one Thamesmead station in the north of the town – somewhat remote from most existing residents – instead of Barking and Dagenham’s 23,000 homes will only enable an additional 7.5k Thamesmead dwellings.
Homes which could also be accommodated by building a new version of the Greenwich Waterfront Transit.
Despite the headline figures of 25k new homes the DLR in Thamesmead is responsible for just 7.5k of the total.
A total of 10k is at Beckton Riverside, existing buses in Thamesmead permit 5k, the limited £23m Rapid Transit project assists a further 3,000 leaving just 7.5k enabled by a sole DLR station in north Thamesmead.
Given the cost of a tunnel beneath the Thames that funding could instead provide a light rail to support 15k Thamesmead homes AND nearby growth areas across the north of Greenwich and Bexley boroughs along the lines of the Greenwich Waterfront Transit proposal.
GWT cancelled
The GWT was another project cancelled by Boris Johnson. Now a meagre £23m is set to be spent on a shortened version.
As it’s three years late without any increase in the originally announced budget, the £23m won’t go very far.
The GWT plan would have served 25,000 homes in Greenwich, 8,000 in Charlton, 5,000 in Woolwich, many thousands across Thamesmead covering the whole town as opposed to one corner under the DLR proposal as well as a potential 15k in Belvedere and Erith.
Instead of helping all those thousands of planned homes, vast funds are now going to a deeply flawed Thamesmead DLR plan for a relatively small number of homes in comparison which could be accommodated by a new GWT linking to nearby Elizabeth line stations located five minutes away from north Thamesmead.
Misplaced priority
Ultimately what we see now is a DLR scheme being pursued that helps a limited number of new homes in north Thamesmead with far less funding allocated on a scheme to benefit many more new homes south of the river including all corners of sprawling Thamesmead.
Compounding that is no DLR extension to assist 23k homes north of the river in Barking Riverside and Dagenham Dock PLUS passengers all over London paying high fares in part to fund it.
If London is to see high fare increases at least let it go to something that helps tens of thousands of new homes.
Of course some will argue there shouldn’t be high fares to begin with if this government are serious about encouraging public transport and reducing road congestion.
It leaves Sadiq Khan in a poor position but he is choosing to both support steep fare increases and push a flawed scheme after Boris Johnson cancelled two far better schemes – and many Londoners will pay for it.
Then again he has demonstrated time and again very little knowledge of Thamesmead and Abbey Wood. Note when he claimed Abbey Wood station had been a great catalyst for new housing near the station while clearly unaware Peabody have land banked numerous plots for 12 years.
Anyone with half an idea about the area could highlight acres of vacant undeveloped land around the station.
Odd as he could reach the area in ten minutes from City Hall via the Elizabeth line and seen it himself. Clearly didn’t bother to do so.
Will he in future? If so he’ll have to stump up the increased fare.
Let me get this right: TFL are pushing a project which is costing all Londoners while limiting proposed new housing compared to alternative schemes. All the while also cutting buses in Thamesmead?
None of it makes sense. I would ask why can’t TFL use development related income from new homes in North Thamesmead to fund the Thamesmead DLR plan but of course how much will homes in the far end of Zone 4 raise? It’s no Crossrail and its many miles from busy parts of London. Who is paying big bucks for a one bed in north Thamesmead. They’re struggling to sell homes in south Thamesmead and that’s near Crossrail with better journeys.
It’s a bit of a piss take. Say you live in east Thamesmead, TfL will be cutting your bus services early next year while also implementing fare rises on some modes of transport.
To add insult to injury the DLR plan does nothing for you. It’s as far away as Abbey Wood station and so why would you ever go to north Thamesmead DLR station?
Lose, lose
For east Thamesmead see also south Thamesmead, west Thamesmead and numerous other areas.
Labour seem on a mission to lose votes everywhere and anywhere even where they may naturally find them. Punishing Londoners reliant on public transport who supported them is a move. Presumably they just take people for granted.
Some will no doubt say others outside London have it bad with fares and services. The answer of course is *not* to drive London down in a race to the bottom but improve areas outside.
I think they will build any tunnel just keep our tunnelling infrastructure going.
Time was when fares used to cover initial capital investment, periodic replacement of depreciating assets (which is NOT ‘investment’), and operating costs. And possibly even a bit of return for the investors. Much of the infrastructure we still have was initially built on this basis. Now it seems that London fares, already highest in a major world city apparently, don’t cover even one aspect of this.
Well of course that Thamesmead needs the DLR extension which is bound to happen at some point in few years. Maybe construction could start later next year if it gets the go ahead.
I do believe that the Thamesmead extension will still get the go ahead in 2026 and with plans to extend it to Belvedere or Abbey Wood. As well as seeing the new B23 Stocks coming into service in 2026.