TfL: 'A Bakerloo line extension, fewer delays and more trains' - Londoners on improving the Tube and buses

Sadiq Khan called for a long-term funding settlement this week as the government announced £250 million for improvements on the Transport for London (TfL) network.

While that money will be spent on planned projects, such as new Piccadilly line trains, there are a number of larger proposals waiting for cash to be freed up over the coming decade, including extensions to the Bakerloo line and the Docklands Light Railway, and Crossrail 2.

LondonWorld went out on the streets to ask Londoners what improvements they would like to see.

Russ told LondonWorld faster rail services direct from the outer zones into central London should be a priority.

"For example, we’ve got quite a quick rail service from Croydon to central Victoria, so maybe increasing the amount of trains that they have from outside of zone 5, zone 6 into the Central Line," he said. "Maybe that could potentially help a lot of people outside of those zones because of ULEZ and all that stuff. It could help them travel into London a lot easier - that could be it.”

Jane wants an extension to the Underground and a station in Camberwell to improve connections on multiple lines.

“There’s a big gap between the Elephant and Castle and Denmark Hill, so either reopen the old Camberwell station or extend the Northern Line or the Bakerloo Line or the Victoria Line to Camberwell," she said.

An extension to the Bakerloo line is in the planning stage, but it would go down Old Kent Road to New Cross Gate and then Lewisham, rather than to Camberwell.

Mike told LondonWorld: "The buses are really regular but the tubes aren’t too bad so I guess just trying to get the engineering works down and the delays."

Sarah said: “There’s not a lot you can improve because I feel like we can say 'I wish it could be faster' and all of those things but when you live in the city it’s really hard to work on things like traffic, or maybe frequency of buses, because I feel like it’s pretty good to be honest.

"And I think the more we travel outside of London the more we really appreciate TfL - but I don’t know, it’s really difficult to find one thing.”

Andy Lord, London's transport commissioner, said on the announcement of the government funding for 2024: “Through a huge effort to reduce costs and rebuild our ridership and revenue following the pandemic, TfL is now on track to be financially sustainable in terms of its day-to-day operations. We are also able to cover the cost of the majority of our capital investment.

“It is good news that we have now reached an agreement with the government on the capital support that they will provide over the next year, and we are grateful for the support. However, we will now need to reassess our recent draft business plan and address the impact of the continuing shortfall in funding. That work is under way so that we can confirm as soon as possible what we will deliver for London.”

Projects already announced by TfL include newly refurbished carriages on the Central Line, featuring CCTV for the first time and better accessibility. This is part of the wider £500 million Central Line Improvement Programme that looks to make London’s longest tube line more reliable.