Historic Lillie Bridge depot up for sale
Sub-surface stock will be stabled in several alternative locations across the network.
PAPERS prepared for TfL's finance committee on June 23 proposed the sale of the Lillie Bridge depot site, as well as neighbouring building Ashfield House, to development company
Earls Court Partnership Limited (ECPL). ECPL has already been granted long leasehold interests over the site of the former Earls Court Exhibition Centre.
The sale needs to be seen in the context of the Mayor of
London, Sadiq Khan, pledging to build 10,000 new council homes as part of his successful re-election bid. It also means that as the freehold landowner, TfL can look forward to much needed long-term income, particularly important in the current financial climate. Planning applications to build 3000 homes and supporting infrastructure would be submitted in 2022, with the target for permission to be obtained during 2023. Works to enable TfL to vacate the site would then commence in 2024.
Lillie Bridge Depot was built in
1871, when the Metropolitan District Railway began to operate its own trains. Superseded by the construction of other depots at Ealing Common (District Line) and Northfields (Piccadilly Line), it has more recently been used to stable passenger and engineering trains.
The report prepared for TfL's finance committee explains that three alternative sites have been identified to stable up to 12 S7 Stock trains:
■ Land between Chiswick Park and Turnham Green
■ Increasing the number of stabling roads at Parsons Green
■ Land north of the current Lillie Bridge depot site to stable engineering trains, with road-to-rail vehicle access.