Docklands Light Railway Limited has awarded Amey Rail a call-off for early works on the proposed DLR extension to Beckton Riverside and Thamesmead. The award notice carries a value of £41.8m excluding VAT, but the initial contractual commitment is limited to Stage 1.1.
That first stage covers mobilisation, review of the scheme programme and assumptions, identification of risks and mitigations, definition of the early works and survey scoping. The contract is due to start on 10 November 2026 and run to 31 October 2028 if the later stages are instructed.
The call-off was allocated to Amey under Transport for London's Infrastructure Improvement Framework. Stage 1.2 and Stage 2 require completion of Stage 1.1, confirmation of affordability, the necessary approvals and satisfaction of the contractual conditions for progression. Their price has yet to be agreed and will be developed during Stage 1.1.
The £41.8m notice value therefore includes an estimate for those potential later works. It is not the amount currently committed to construction.
DLR services at Gallions Reach in east London, where the proposed Thamesmead extension would branch from the existing network. Illustration: London Construction Magazine.
Surveys lead into defined early works
If instructed, Stage 1.2 will take the scheme into the agreed surveys and investigations, development of the Stage 2 requirements, progressive estimating, programme development and further risk assessment. It will also establish the commercial arrangements for Stage 2, which covers delivery of the defined early works.
The award comes as TfL moves towards the statutory consent stage. Its latest DLR extension proposals show the railway branching from the existing network at Gallions Reach, serving a new station at Beckton Riverside and crossing beneath the River Thames before reaching an elevated terminus at Thamesmead.
LCM has tracked the scheme through its earlier consultation and design stages, including the development case for the Thamesmead DLR extension. The new Amey appointment is a more specific delivery signal: a contractor is now in place to define and prepare the early works package ahead of the main statutory and funding decisions.
Beckton Riverside is the tunnelling launch site
TfL's current design places the main tunnel boring machine launch site at Beckton Riverside. The proposed alignment would approach the area on viaduct before descending towards the new station and the tunnel portal, with cut-and-cover sections connecting the bored tunnels to the surface railway on each side of the Thames.
The Beckton site has access to the A1020, A13 and A406 and enough space for TBM assembly, tunnel segment storage, excavated-material handling and construction welfare. TfL also identified access from the Port of Tilbury for large TBM components and the availability of the substantial temporary electrical supply needed to assemble and launch the machine.
On the south side of the river, the line would emerge in Thamesmead and rise onto viaduct to cross the Twin Tumps and Thamesmere before reaching an elevated station on the current Cannon Retail Park site. TfL's construction sequence includes site preparation and utility diversions, piles and viaduct supports, tunnel shafts, tunnelling, station construction and then track, power, signalling and telecommunications installation.
The junction with the existing DLR is planned as a grade-separated connection, allowing extension services to avoid conflicts with trains using the existing Beckton branch and Beckton depot.
Statutory application is planned for early 2027
TfL is now finalising the scheme for a Transport and Works Act Order application, planned for early 2027. Its third consultation closed in July and the report published on 8 October recorded 553 responses, including 26 from stakeholder organisations. TfL said the responses did not require a significant change to the scheme.
The statutory application will seek the powers needed to construct and operate the extension, including land and property rights. This places the project at the stage identified in LCM's London planning pipeline, where the TWAO was identified as the main 2027 milestone before main construction.
TfL currently estimates the extension at around £1.5bn in outturn costs. It says construction could begin by 2029, with Beckton Riverside and Thamesmead stations potentially opening in the early 2030s, subject to a funding agreement with Government and the necessary statutory approval.
Rail investment is tied to up to 30,000 homes
The extension is being developed around the housing programmes at Beckton Riverside and Thamesmead Waterfront. The Greater London Authority puts the combined development capacity at 25,000 to 30,000 homes, with the railway also expected to support up to 10,000 jobs.
The GLA says expected funding sources for the extension include incremental borough Community Infrastructure Levy receipts, business rates and developer-negotiated Section 106 contributions. TfL is also working with Government on the formal funding package and a borrowing mechanism intended to support construction.
At Thamesmead, the railway would enter the wider waterfront development area that LCM examined in its analysis of the 15,000-home Thamesmead Waterfront programme. Transport capacity is one of the principal dependencies for increasing housing density across both sides of the river.
Amey's immediate task is Stage 1.1. The next contractual decision will be whether Docklands Light Railway Limited instructs Stage 1.2 after the programme review, risk work, early-works definition and survey scope have been completed.
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