THE UNDERGROUND

Southland Times, Issue 19757, 3 February 1923, Page 7

THE UNDERGROUND

, LINKING UP SOUTH LONDON. SEVEN MILLION POUND SCHEME. New schemes of underground railway extension in London that will cost between £6, 000,000 and £7,000,000 are disclosed in recent Parliamentary Notices. These provide for considerable railway development in South London, and far more effective connection with the west and north by means of an extension of the Hampstead line. At the present moment some £3,500,000 ire being spent upon the widening and modernisation of the City and South London Railways, so that this line can carry a great deal more traffic than hitherto. To assure this traffic, it is proposed to extend the railway from Clapham Common, via Balham, Tooting, and Merton, to Morden, to form a junction with the proposed Wimbledon and Sutton Railway already authorised. e In order to provide a West-End connection for the City and South London Railway from the south, <he Hampstead line will be projected from its present terminus at Charing Cross to Waterloo, and thence to Kennington, to form junctions with the City and South London Railway there. Incidentally, junctions will be constructed south of Waterloo by means of which either the Hampstead line trains or the Bakerloo line trains can be run to Kennington and thence on to the City and South London Railway’s southern extension. Train services will thus be provided to the area between Tooting and Sutton, and traffic at Waterloo Station will be much relieved.

At the same time large increases in the traffic brought into the centre of London will necessitate developments of important central stations, such as Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square. Schemes therefore have been prepared for the building of a new station at Piccadilly Circus under the roadway, with staircases giving access to all points in the Circus, and having escalators proceeding direct to the Bakerloo and Piccadilly lines. At Leicester Square the station will be doubled in capacity, and a new set of lift shafts sunk to deal with the expected growth of traffic.