Southwark Council says that it has agreed an additional £7.5million to its existing contribution for a new entrance and ticket hall to the Northern Line underground station to be delivered as part of the shopping centre redevelopment at Elephant and Castle.

The funding will pay for a fully integrated step free interchange at Elephant and Castle between the Northern Line and Bakerloo Lines –but is conditional on the the extension and upgrade of the Bakerloo Line being delivered as well.

That’s partly due to the fact that at the moment, the Northern and Bakerloo line platforms are a fair distance from each other, but the Bakerloo line extension would see the Bakerloo line platforms moved to be next to the Northern line. That move makes it possible to create a step-free link between them.

A brand new entrance combing both lines with one ticket hall would then be built near to the current Northern line entrance.

The shopping centre developer will construct a new station box, TFL will then complete the fit out of the facility. They key reason for the funding today is that the previously approved scheme for the new station box doesn’t include provision for the tunnels leading to the new Bakerloo line platforms, because at the moment, the Bakerloo line extension hasn’t been formally approved.

That gave rise to a risk that the Bakerloo line might need a separate station entrance, or that if it could be added to the current station later, the construction works would be very disruptive. Better to do it today, but the money wasn’t in the budget for that. Additional funding from TfL and Southwark Council is required to build in the passive provision for the future Bakerloo line access, hence the extra £7.5 million from the council, which is being matched by TfL.

Cllr Johnson Situ, Cabinet Member for Growth, Development and Planning, said that “the decision to provide half the costs for this early infrastructure will help support the case for the overall Bakerloo Line Extension project, strengthening TfL’s case for capital funding.”

The Elephant and Castle station is also the location for a major, if at times, controversial redevelopment of the shopping centre and surrounds to build more homes for the area.