Bexley misses out on DLR extension

The newly funded DLR extension to Thamesmead is a long-overdue step forward for an area that has waited decades for a fixed-rail link. But for residents across Bexley, the plan simply doesn’t go far enough. By stopping at the borough boundary, the scheme risks becoming another example of SE London transport investment that benefits everyone except the communities that need it most.

The extension will bring clear gains to Thamesmead - new homes, better connectivity and the promise of regeneration - yet none of this meaningfully reaches Belvedere, Erith or the wider north-Bexley corridor. A single station in a dispersed area fails to address the structural gap in SE London transport access. Without a commitment to carry the line into Bexley, the benefits will be sharply uneven.

It’s yet another setback for local residents - first the Elizabeth Line stopping short, then the SL3 skirting past Bexley Village, poor links to the QE hospital, and now a DLR extension that doesn’t even reach the borough.

Oliver Brooks, Lib Dem candidate for St Mary and St James said: “Residents here deserve more than a token terminus on the other side of the border. Bexley has been overlooked for too long. Extending the DLR to Belvedere and Erith isn’t a luxury - it’s the missing piece in creating a fair, connected SE London.”

Bexley Liberal Democrats are calling for safeguarding of a route into the borough, transparent assessment of benefits for local residents, and a wider plan for fair and long-term transport investment.