Yet another set of plans has been announced this morning for the perpetually derelict Battersea Power Station, and some of it is OKish – but the bit which really caught my attention was the transport aspect. As the area is barely served by a few overland trains, the property developer is proposing to fund an extension for the Northern Line which would then link up at Kennington Station.
This would be a small spur line, and while I know that spur lines are usually frowned upon, in this case as the Northern Line already has several spur lines on it, I doubt another one would make all that much difference frankly.
The developer Real Estate Opportunities (REO) has come up with three route options for the extension – although I haven’t been able to find details (yet!). Its favoured route would cost an estimated £347m and would have two stops, Wandsworth Town and Battersea. It would be entirely paid for by REO and other local landowners, working within the Nine Elms Opportunity Area. Having not seen the plans yet, I can’t comment on the route, but I would hope one spur would link up with Vauxhall Station to create a triangle between Kennington, Vauxhall and Stockwell. That would significantly increase travel options in the area when lines are closed/delayed.
Personally, I would think a nice idea would be to put a flat roof over the ugly rail bridge leading towards Victoria station and turn that into a vast pedestrian plaza with cafes etc along the centre and seating areas. The view would be staggering and it would really open up access between both sides of the river.
Incidentally, I had a visit to the Power Station just over a year ago when it was opened up for an art exhibition, and amazingly, they are letting the public back in again from next Wednesday – yay!
