The abandoned London Underground routes that would have made life much more rosy for South London commuters – My London

It's no secret at all that South Londoners feel huge parts of London south of the river are not particularly well served by the London Underground.

There are big big gaps in the coverage which mean in many areas, Londoners have to still rely on cramming onto buses or hiring an Uber to get around and there are very limited connections between north and south.

The results is that the Tube stations that do exist in key areas tend to get absolutely packed.

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Speaking to MyLondon, South London commuter Dan Shepherd, said: "It's just ridiculous.

"Down here people have to go by bus which means more traffic on the roads and the overland stations are closed late at night.

"If I want to go from Streatham to say Wandsworth it's very complicated.

"North of the river you have the choice to get on just about any line you like but people down here can't do that.

"Brixton Underground station is always packed because everyone goes there.

"If I want to go to Croydon I basically have to drive."

Yet many of these problems could - and arguably should - have been solved years ago.

Back in the 1980s London Underground carried out studies into four proposals that would have seen Northern Line trains currently terminating at Kennington continuing on southwards to new destinations.

Two of these - a route to Streatham and one to to Peckham Rye were seriously looked at.

The plans for the Streatham route would have followed the A23, running deep down to pass beneath sewers and the Victoria Line at Brixton.

It would have meant new stations at Brixton Hill, Streatham Hill and Streatham but some of these could have been developed inside overground stations that already existed.

The Peckham Rye route would have followed the A202 Camberwell New Road, to Camberwell Green, then on to Peckham Rye.

But the routes never happened leaving many Londoners bemoaning the lack of a decent connection between North and South London.

In 2009, when the Mayor of London was asked a question about the possible extension to Streatham, he made it clear this idea had been put to bed.

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But he did suggest another alternative could be looked at.

He said: "London Underground is not currently considering any proposals to extend the Tube system to Streatham.

"LU has undertaken preliminary work in the past to look at the feasibility of southern extensions to the network, including identifying some route options and looking at their technical development.

"Of these, extending the Bakerloo line south from Elephant & Castle emerged as the option with the most potential.

"A Bakerloo southern extension would allow the line to serve inner and outer southeast London, creating a new southeast to northwest strategic route through the Capital, serving areas with poor transport accessibility and freeing up National Rail capacity at London Bridge for other service improvements."

This Bakerloo Line extension is now some way closer to reality.

Consultations in 2019 cake back with an overwhelmingly positive response to it.

The plan is to:

But the coronavirus pandemic hit TfL hard causing many projects to be put on hold and The Bakerloo line extension will now not see the light of day until at least the 2030s.

Transport for London (TfL) has said recently it "remains committed to delivering the Bakerloo line extension", but it is dependent on a "viable funding package being put together" by the Government".

A similar fate befell the Crossrail 2 project which could have solved some of South London's problems by connecting Wimbledon, Clapham, Balham and possibly Tooting Broadway with Euston and Epsom, Chessington and Shepperton in the south and as far as Broxbourne in Hertfordshire in the north.

But although detailed plans have been drawn up, this again has been put on hold due to funding constraints.

Instead what we have seen recently is the Northern Line extension to Nine Elms and Battersea.

An expensive project which not all Londoners are convinced is helping the parts of London most in need.

Which new underground routes would you like to see developed? Email martin.elvery@reachplc.com

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The abandoned London Underground routes that would have made life much more rosy for South London commuters - My London