A new extension to the DLR from Beckton to Barking Riverside will be “considered”, Sadiq Khan’s transport deputy said this week.
Plans are already in place to extend the Docklands Light Railway across the Thames from Gallions Reach to Thamesmead, by building a new station at Beckton Riverside.
But speaking at City Hall on Wednesday, the deputy mayor for transport, Seb Dance, said the extension would be built to enable further branches in other directions.
The question was raised at a meeting of the London Assembly’s transport committee by Labour member Joanne McCartney, on behalf of her party colleague Unmesh Desai.
Mr Desai, who represents the City and East London on the Assembly, was keen to find out whether the deputy mayor “will be lobbying for an extension from Beckton to Barking Riverside”, said Ms McCartney. She added that the distance was “a two mile stretch, but it is impeding growth in that area”.
Mr Dance replied: “Yes, we will certainly consider it. The priority we have is delivering the DLR extension to Thamesmead.
“Of course, that cross-river link is what will unlock so much in both Beckton and in Thamesmead, but it will be done in a way that will enable further extensions to be built.
“When a new bit of the network is built, there’s often provision for it to go further if that is later decided, so that will be the case in this instance.
“Certainly extensions both south of the river and north of the river would be possible with the design that we’re looking at for that extension to Thamesmead.”
Proposals for a DLR branch along similar lines to that requested by Mr Desai have been discussed on and off for more than two decades now.
Barking and Dagenham Council said in its 2021 transport strategy that it would like to see an extension as far as Dagenham Dock - which Mr Desai has also supported.
The new DLR station proposed at Beckton Riverside as part of the Thamesmead extension would be only a short distance from the Overground terminus at Barking Riverside, which opened to passengers in 2022.
