Transport bosses have rejected a proposal to extend the London Underground network to Croydon.

But Croydon Council has refused to give up hope of bringing the Tube to the borough and is taking the fight to City Hall.

Sep 2015: 'Too early to say' on Croydon re-zoning and Bakerloo extension, says London mayoral candidate Sadiq Khan

Jul 2015: Croydon Council preparing ambitious bid for Bakerloo Tube line extension

It emerged in July last year that the authority had drafted an ambitious bid to divert a planned Bakerloo line extension to Croydon instead of Bromley.

Council leader Tony Newman held talks with London mayor Boris Johnson about the proposal and was confident on capitalising on Bromley Council’s opposition to an extension, scheduled to be completed by 2030.

But a Transport for London (TfL) consultation paper published this month effectively shelves the idea of bringing the Bakerloo line south-west from Elephant and Castle to East Croydon.

The document said the extension would have “a significant adverse impact on the built natural environment due to the lack of suitable locations around each area for construction and tunnelling works”.

It added bringing the Tube to Croydon had “low potential to support further growth” because large developments bringing housing and jobs to the town were already under way.

But Cllr Newman accused TfL of being “behind the times” in not recognising the importance of improving Croydon’s transport links.

He said: “We hear what TfL say but we don’t remotely accept their analysis so the campaign will very much go on.

“The overwhelming case with a population heading rapidly towards 400,000, with Westfield-Hammerson coming on stream in a few years’ time, and with Fairfield Halls, hopefully with a huge new cultural offering, the TfL analysis looks rather behind the times to me.

“The pace of change and the growth of Croydon fully justifies it.”

Cllr Newman suggested logistical problems caused by an extension to East Croydon, as was considered in the consultation, could be avoided by taking the Tube to West Croydon instead.

He added the extension had won support across the political divide, including from MPs, and would remain one of the council’s “top agenda items” during discussions with the new mayor of London.

The council leader said: “With respect to TfL it is not a democratic institution; it comes under the control of the mayor of London. I think TfL should perhaps work a little bit closer with politicians and be more responsive to what we wish to see.”

TfL hopes to start work on the Bakerloo extension by 2025.

But last year Bromley Council branded the plans “unacceptable” and said it would prefer to bring the Docklands Light Railway or Tramlink to the borough instead.

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