Erith and Thamesmead’s MP has called on the UK Transport Secretary to speed up the process of bringing the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) to Thamesmead.

Considerations to extend the DLR route from Gallions Reach to Thamesmead have been ongoing.

According to the Evening Standard, plans to extend the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) will hopefully be submitted by 2026.

The Mayor Sadiq Khan said City Hall and other public bodies has given around £1.5m towards feasibility studies for the project.

MP Abena Oppong-Asare’s suggests that extension would bring benefits such as job creation, reduced movement barriers between east London, south-east London and the wider Thames Estuary growth area, as well as supporting net-zero objectives.

Thamesmead is currently not served by the Tube, DLR, Overground and National Rail services leaving it with poor transport links.

The MP remains concerned that the project has not received adequate support from the government following “a lack of progress”.

The Evening Standard claims that if the DLR extension is created, it is hoped that it will help to support the construction of between 20,000 and 30,000 new homes in both Thamesmead and Beckton Riverside.

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Abena Oppong-Asare MP said: “I am supporting local people in Thamesmead who are poorly served by public transport and so cannot travel easily and cheaply for work, study, or leisure.

“Our ambitious plans to put Thamesmead on the transport map are supported by local authorities, Transport for London, local businesses, community organisations, and local people.

“The opportunities for economic growth are plain to see. We have waited long enough. Now is the time for action.”

The letter to the transport secretory reads: “I am writing to urge Ministers to speed up plans to extend the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) to Thamesmead.

“The communities that comprise Thamesmead in east London are growing, with new developments and a rising population. Yet the local people I represent are poorly served by public transport.

“We do not have the transport links that a great area like ours deserves, to allow local people to travel easily and cheaply for work, study, or leisure.

Over the years I have campaigned to bring the DLR to Thamesmead, under the banner #nextstopThamesmead, I have heard warm words from an ever-growing cast list of transport ministers.

“The DLR is always on the way, and yet somehow never arrives.“