Public transport changes

The latest TfL Commissioner’s Report [PDF] has been published, and it contains mixed news for our manor. The bad (depending on your point of view, I suppose) news is that the proposed Bakerloo Line extension through Camberwell is off the table:

We undertook an initial consultation in autumn 2014 on route options for a Bakerloo line extension to the south of Elephant and Castle. Since then we have undertaken further work on a number of alternative routes proposed during the initial consultation. The results of that work demonstrate that the preferred route option for a first phase is from Elephant and Castle to Lewisham via Old Kent Road.

However, there is the promise of compensation for not getting the tube:

Any extension would also be supported by significant improvements to the national rail network in southeast London, including the possibility of a new Thameslink station at Camberwell.

Presumably this would be on the site of the old station, on Station Road — this area has previously been flagged for major development. It’s been mentioned that this would ‘reopen’ the station, but I think it would be a complete rebuild / new build — I can’t see how there’s enough left of the old station (closed to passengers in 1916, to freight in 1964) to be viable.

In other transport news, TfL is consulting on changes to the 436 bus route. It’s proposed that the bus will no longer go on to Paddington after Vauxhall, but will instead go to Battersea (to serve the new developments there). The bus would also reduce in frequency between Lewisham and Vauxhall. To compensate for the reduced service of the 436, the 36 would increase in frequency.

The consultation on this change closes on the 10th of January.

Thanks to London SE1 for the heads-up on the tube story.

Author: Peter

Long-time resident of Camberwell, author of this blog since July 2004.

26 thoughts on “Public transport changes”

  1. Thanks Peter as always for the heads up on what has been quite the divisive subject these last couple of years.
    The change in the 436 bus makes sense for us in SE5 — I just hope those in Lewisham are not adversely affected. It always seemed bonkers to have two buses travelling in parallel to the same part of town.

    NOW…A plug for this weekend from CAMBERWELL ARTS…
    1) Clockwork Studios open their doors for the final instalment of #CamberwellArts #OpenStudio15 — Coldharbour artists enjoyed it so much, some will be at it again too.
    2) Those with Kids should head to Camberwell Library on Saturday at 2pm for a tree decoration workshop. Bring your rubbish with you!
    Check out the latest Camberwell Arts newsletter here: http://eepurl.com/bI17_X
    Make sure you sign up to our mailing list: http://www.camberwellarts.org.uk/mailing-list/

    Cheers, Mrs PBTT.

  2. It’s not a surprise but I’m very pleased no Tube is coming to Camberwell. But pleased that there is a possibility of the train coming.

    I have an inkling that this may be closer than we think. All the garage owners, including the lovely Everton from Master Mechanix, have been kicked out from the arches at the bottom of Camberwell Station Rd, opposite the Bear.

    Could this be to prepare the ground for a new station?

    Ditto what MrsPBTT said for the 436. Makes sense to me.

  3. @Monkeycat — when you say that the garages have been kicked out, do you mean they’ve been given notice to leave or they have actually already left? When I picked up a parcel from the post office a couple of weeks ago the garages seemed open as usual.

  4. I’ve actually seen the lights on a couple of times now in the old Camberwell Station building, which I hadn’t seen before, so hopefully this indicates they may be planning?. I did wonder why a lot of the garages are closed, would be interesting to know if they had been asked to leave?

    1. The old station is still a garage, but I doubt they would make it the station.

      As I mentioned above the garages that have been evicted are the ones at the bottom of Camberwell Station Rd. The ones further up opposite the parcel delivery place are still open for now and last time I heard, they have not been given notice.

      Master Mechanix and the other units opposite the Bear didn’t want to go, and as far as I remember I don’t even think he was given the option of renewing the lease, so maybe Network Rail have plans.

      But of course this could just mean making retail units or some such plan.

  5. I couldn’t quite read this sentence:

    “Any extension would also be supported by significant improvements to the national rail network in southeast London, including the possibility of a new Thameslink station at Camberwell.”

    However, I picked out a few words from it: “rail”, “enthusiast”, “railfan”, “gricer, “anorak, “Ian Allen”, “diesel shunter” and “disuseded engine sheds of the South East”.

    Unless I am mistaken — and I like to be — Camberwell, just, may soon have a link to the iron waterway of the world.

  6. May I just say how amazed I am that I changed the theme of this blog and no one even _commented_, let alone complained. In the past I would have been instructed to keep it how it is.

  7. I wish the appearance of the whole web would never change, but have grown resigned to regularly having to rediscover my way around previously familiar websites as I understand that it is what keeps creatives in work.

  8. In all seriousness, I was waiting to see if I prefer it or not. I always liked the old version but recognise that some people find it confusing, for some reason.

    Ok one thing I don’t like is that it doesn’t recognise that I’ve logged in already on my phone. Every time I make a comment, I have to enter my details again. That is annoying!

  9. I just wanted to start again with this… had the old design for many years, it was creaking under the bonnet. This is just a first step to some further changes, but is at least much more readable than previously.

  10. I thought it was just a mistake.

    I quite like the new typeface, very bookish, though someone will need to adjust the kerning on a letter-by-letter basis, with a pair of Victorian typesetter’s tweezers. There will need to be two shifts — or three, if we are to follow SOGAT guidelines.

  11. Good God, the em rule is about a mile long, like a line illustration of the 8.15am Denmark Hill train bound for Charing Cross.

  12. RE: The transport thread, I’m reminded of the Evening Standard article in 2013 where Councillor Peter John was reported to have said: “Camberwell is less than three miles from Westminster but it can take you over an hour on the bus. That is not good for London’s economy.” It regularly takes much longer in late 2015. Camberwell’s poor connectivity to Central London and lack of political demands for change are not something to be excused, tube as solution or not.

  13. Savill’s is an excellent sponsor for the new design.

    Does anyone else think that ley lines or something criss-cross Camberwell and this is what makes us all so special?

    I was putting out some books on our wall the other day including Brecht’s “Caucasian Chalk Circle” in the little Faber paperback. What should pass by soon after but Bertold Brecht himself, the Class 92 designed specifically for the Channel Tunnel.

  14. Apologies to all contributors to this thread for going off-topic.
    Peter, I have a question for you about the “All’s Well” image in the blog masthead, but I can’t figure out how to email or message about it separately, sorry. What’s the best way of getting in contact?

  15. A tonic, it is, too, to return to Camberwell after a week away. Has anything happened? It seems quite quiet.

    The main drag, the road from Vauxhall to the Green, sees few jewels of inspiration as the car putters its last few yards home. But Camberwell is a place of secrets. One can feel them glinting in the midwinter gloom, waiting for their moment.

  16. THE HIGHLIGHT OF 2016 has to be, already and for the rest of the entire year, Anna Meredith’s appearance on Radio 3’s “Private Passions”, today, the thinking person’s “Desert Island Discs”.

    Not only was she the most interesting guest they’ve had for months, she is a full-on Camberwell fixture, feature.

    She runs the Camberwell Composers Collective who hold gigs at the Crypt, playing their work what they wrote.

    I urge everyone to listen and be in awe of such a figure — feature, fixture — in our midst. One might say she is the Rosemary Hill of Camberwell, except that Rosemary Hill is.

    There is no more clear signal that Camberwell is by far the best place in London.

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b051zvvn

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