CGI footage has revealed what Elephant and Castle will soon look like once a major transformation project is complete – after construction of the new tube station entrance leapt forward this week.
Responsibility for the underground concrete station box has been handed over to TfL, which will start working on building new tunnels linking the Northern line platforms with the new station entrance.
Escalators will carry passengers from the platforms to the ticket hall, providing step-free access between the Northern line platforms and the street for the first time.
But commuters will have to be patient: the new station entrance isn’t expected to open until 2029 at the earliest.
The new station box also includes space for three new escalators linking to the Bakerloo Line extension once it is eventually built – which last week received yet another setback after it was shunned from the government’s latest spending review.
The station entrance building was constructed by Get Living and is part of the developer’s £1.5 billion regeneration of Elephant and Castle town square on the site of the old shopping centre, which closed in 2020.
The new town centre, expected to be completed by September next year, will be a mixed-use development containing shops, office space, a multiplex cinema and a new building for the London College of Communications.
Above the new station, three towers will contain 485 homes, of which 172 will be affordable by room, with just three set at the cheapest social rents.
There are additional plans for the site of the current London College of Communications, which will be partially demolished once the new town centre is complete, with proposals for 507 new homes, 116 of which will be socially rented and 49 affordable.
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Supporters of the station upgrade hope it will further help to make the case for the Bakerloo line extension, after it was shunned from the government’s spending review last week.
The extension of the line from Elephant and Castle to Hayes via the Old Kent Road and New Cross is predicted to unlock land for the construction of 100,000 new homes and is forecast to inject 1.5 billion into the economy each year.
At the last estimate, carried out in 2021, the cost of constructing the extension was pegged at between £5 and 8 billion, making it one of the UK’s most expensive infrastructure projects of all time.
Cllr Kieron Williams, Southwark Council’s outgoing leader, said he was “confident” the route would receive funding eventually, but added: “I was slightly sad slightly sad it didn’t get announced last week, if I’m honest. I didn’t think it would, either.”
He continued: “Why am I confident it will happen? £1.5 billion pounds – ultimately, the Treasury is some point going to have to say – we need that growth, we need that improvement in people’s lives.”
Earlier this year, the land for the proposed route was safeguarded by the government, protecting it against future development. Last week, TFL confirmed the launch of a new ‘Bakerloop’ express bus service connectng Waterloo and Lewisham, set to begin ferrying passengers this Autumn.
“The way you get these kinds of projects done is by simply plugging away at them” said Cllr Williams, acknowledging there was “political pressure” on the government to direct investment outside of London.
The new station will provide step-free access between the Northern line platforms and the street level for the first time – but step-free access between the Northern and Bakerloo line platforms is awaiting funding from Network Rail.
The town centre will also provide a more seamless transition for passengers moving between the train station and the underground, with plans to open up the arches beneath the railway line.
Richard Allen, Asset Director at Get Living, said: “Think of this as a place where people will be able to transfer very easily from the Thameslink coming into the Elephant and Castle rail station onto the tube network.
“We can see Elephant becoming that point where people transfer because it’s a really pleasant journey. You can literally stand in the town square and see where the back of the rail station is – then walk down the main street and you’re straight into the tube network.”
It’s a shame that the opportunity to build a direct link between the mainline rail station and the tube station has been missed. Surely not that hard to put in a tunnel and some escalators or lifts.