Northern line extension to Battersea

A redeveloped Battersea Power Station will be the new terminus for "via Charing Cross" Northern line trains
Picture of the former supermarket car park which is now becoming Nine Elms Station. As of 2015 the supermarket has been demolished to make way for housing development and Nine Elms roundels have appeared on hoardings

The Northern line extension to Battersea is an extension under construction of the London Underground Northern line to Battersea in South West London, from Kennington to the disused Battersea Power Station. The extension will form a continuation of the Charing Cross branch of the line.

The extension is a partially privately funded project by the site developers, SP Setia and Sime Darby, with contributions from other sources such as the new US Embassy. Construction began in 2015, and the extension could be open by 2020.[1][2] Battersea Power Station will be the new southern terminus, with a new station at Nine Elms on Wandsworth Road. Both stations will be in Travelcard Zone 1.[3][4]

Provision will be made for a possible future extension to Clapham Junction by notifying the London Borough of Wandsworth of a reserved course under Battersea Park and subsequent streets.[5]

History

A May 2010 consultation put forward four proposals (two with slightly different locations for Nine Elms station, one with an interchange at Vauxhall for the Victoria line, and one with a direct link with no intermediate station).[6] In the light of the consultation results, Transport for London decided to develop the extension with two new tube stations, one at Nine Elms, next to Wandsworth Road and Pascal Street, at a site used as a Sainsbury's car park, and one serving the Battersea Power Station development. In addition to serving the mostly residential communities, Nine Elms tube station will also provide improved access for the nearby New Covent Garden Market and the future US Embassy.

The Greater London Authority advised landowners, developers and council leaders (forming the Nine Elms and Vauxhall Strategy Board) in November 2010 that the extension will be mostly privately funded via developers' contributions and will provide an economic windfall for its regeneration area, it costed the new link at £560 million.[7] Financing of the extension has been aided by the fact that the developers of the area have been made exempt from the Crossrail Levy and instead are required to pay towards the extension.[8]

The proposed route, including possible further extension to Clapham Junction.

On 11 November 2010, Wandsworth Council granted planning permission for the development of the Battersea Power Station site, and this permission was then approved by the Mayor of London on 22 December 2010. Although the plans rested upon the new link, the extension itself has been the subject of a separate planning application.[9][10]

In June 2012, the Battersea Power Station site was sold to a Malaysian consortium, SP Setia and Sime Darby, following the liquidation of the Real Estate Opportunities.[11]

In November 2012, Transport for London launched a consultation on their preferred route option, giving people living in the area a chance to submit their views.[12]

In December 2012, HM Treasury confirmed that it will allow the Greater London Authority to borrow up to £1 billion from the Public Works Loan Board, at a preferential rate, to finance the construction of the line.[13]

In April 2013, Transport for London applied for a Transport and Works Act Order to proceed with the extension.[14]

On 19 November 2013, the Secretary of State for Transport announced the start of a public inquiry into the proposed construction of the extension.[15] The inquiry, conducted by an independent planning inspector, finished on 20 December 2013. The planning inspector in Spring 2014 recommended that the scheme proceed along with other recommendations. Ground investigation works commenced from 2010 to understand the soil and subsoil where the new tunnels are to be engineered.[2]

In August 2014, Mike Brown, the former Managing Director of London Underground (within Transport for London) announced that a forecast £500 million six-year contract had been awarded to Ferrovial Agroman Laing O’Rourke to design and build the Northern line extension to Battersea.[16]

The extension was given the final approval by the Secretary of State for Transport in November 2014 with it projected to open in 2020.[17] In the draft edition of the TfL 'Business Plan 2014', issued as part of the TfL Board papers for their meeting on 10 December 2014, the map TfL's Rail Transport Network at 2021 labelled the terminus as "Battersea Power Station", instead of just "Battersea" as had appeared on previous publications.

Preparation works started in 2015, and the main tunnelling is scheduled to start in 2017.[18]

References

  1. ↑ "Update - Proposed extension of the Northern line to Nine Elms and Battersea NLE" (PDF). Transport for London. Summer 2012. Retrieved 27 November 2012.
  2. 1 2 "Northern line extension". Transport for London. 15 April 2014. Retrieved 15 April 2014.
  3. ↑ "Northern line extension to Battersea gets go-ahead" (Press release). Transport for London. 12 November 2014. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
  4. ↑ "Battersea Power Station". Battersea Project Land Company Ltd. 28 December 2015. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
  5. ↑ Henderson, Jamie (23 June 2013). "Clapham Junction next for Northern Line says London Assembly member". Wandsworth Guardian. Retrieved 12 January 2014.
  6. ↑ Nine Elms Wandsworth | Regeneration in the heart of London
  7. ↑ "Study shows Nine Elms tube link viable" (Press release). Wandsworth Council. 5 November 2010. Retrieved 9 November 2010.
  8. ↑ "Boris: Nine Elms developers won't pay Crossrail levy". Architect's Journal. 29 October 2009. Retrieved 5 January 2012.
  9. ↑ "Battersea Power Station scheme approved" (Press release). Wandsworth Council. 11 November 2010.
  10. ↑ "Mayor approves £5.5bn Battersea Power Station revamp". BBC News. 22 December 2010.
  11. ↑ "Battersea Power Station: Malaysian company beats Chelsea bid". BBC News. 7 June 2012. Retrieved 7 June 2012.
  12. ↑ "TfL would like to hear your views on plans to extend the Northern line" (Press release). Transport for London. 8 November 2012. Retrieved 8 November 2012.
  13. ↑ "Boost for Battersea as Osborne puts power station on the Tube". London Evening Standard. 5 December 2012. Retrieved 19 January 2013.
  14. ↑ "TfL applies for Northern Line extension legal powers". Railway Gazette International. London. 30 April 2013.
  15. ↑ "Northern line extension public inquiry starts today" (Press release). Transport for London. 19 November 2013. Retrieved 24 November 2013.
  16. ↑ "Next Step for Northern Line Extension" London Borough of Wandsworth.
  17. ↑ "Northern Line extension to Battersea and Nine Elms gets go ahead". London Evening Standard. 12 November 2014. Retrieved 12 November 2014.
  18. ↑ "Northern line extension". Transport for London. Retrieved 29 September 2016.

Coordinates: 51°28′49″N 0°08′25″W / 51.4803°N 0.1403°W / 51.4803; -0.1403

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