Lewisham's overcrowded trains will become 'very severe' says council report

In a document called “A Vision for Rail” to be presented to the council later this month, it outlined how Lewisham will look in the future with all the newest transport developments.

Among the transport developments coming soon include the ‘Bakerloowisham’ extension of the Bakerloo Line to Lewisham and potentially beyond.

The planned extension for the Bakerloo Line to Lewisham.

However despite the extra transport available, the report says that increased demand due to more people living in Lewisham and beyond will only make the overcrowding worse.

The report says: “The increase in demand expected on the rail network will mean that passengers experience busier trains and may not be able to board in future.

“Forecasts show that planned enhancements to the Southeastern network will avoid the worst crowding occurring through most of the borough.

“However, the Overground service is expected to be particularly crowded in future. This shows that more mitigations are needed to provide sufficient capacity.

“DLR services are expected to remain very busy, while residents of Lewisham will be able to board services, the crowding on board will become very severe as the trains approach Canary Wharf.”

The report also notes that Lewisham needs to build more homes as well to sustain the increased population, although notes that not building more homes doesn’t mean the trains won’t be overcrowded.

It says: “Our transport network does not just cater for growth in Lewisham alone, surrounding Boroughs have significant growth targets too which means that the transport network will become busier whether more homes are built in Lewisham or not.

“In fact, as more homes are built in the surrounding Boroughs, it will reinforce the reliance on high capacity rail services to provide access to the important employment centres in Central London, Canary Wharf and Stratford.”

However there is hope for people living in the borough that rail services will improve if they make enough noise to get things changed, according to Councillor Alan Hall.

He pointed to the campaign group The Cinderella Line which managed to fight for more frequent trains on the Catford Loop Line rather than only two per hour.

Cllr Hall said: “Railways are incredibly important to Lewisham and have shaped our local communities. I have said we must be ambitious for Lewisham but local residents need to be involved in our decisions.

“I have asked that this important report be discussed at the next Sustainable Development Committee but I would welcome public comments on these new and exciting plans.”

“These include increasing frequencies on existing routes, adding new stations and supporting the Bakerloo Line extension.”