People who live in the real life version of Monopoly’s cheapest street tend to all agree on one key thing – they need a London Underground station.
Old Kent Road runs from Elephant and Castle down to Peckham, and though it’s shaken off its reputation of being the fodder of the famous board game, it still has its problems, reports MyLondon.
While average property prices on the South-East London road might cost just under half a million now, most people’s complaints centre around the lack of transport options which can turn travelling to other parts of London a tricky task.
Amir Kadaber, 25, owns Abader Store on Old Kent Road, which specialises in Ethiopian products. He said his business was missing out as no one visits Old Kent Road because of its relative transport isolation.
He said: “For me, to be honest, the Old Kent Road… it’s my place.” He said he recognises people and gets regular customers, but added: “If there was a train station that would be nice because the business I think would get more people from everywhere.
He said people message on Instagram to ask what the nearest train station is – “I have to say Elephant and Castle or Bermondsey. And they have to walk (for 27 minutes) or get a bus and many people don’t want to do that”.
There have long been talks of an extension to the Bakerloo Tube Line to adequately cover Old Kent Road – first by Transport for London in 2014, and most recently in 2019, where 89 percent supported the idea.
Data analyst and local resident Soraya Yamava, 56, confirmed that, while the buses were “generally good”, when there is traffic they are most certainly “not very good”, adding: “They said there was going to be a Tube station and that would be good”.
Indeed, in early 2021, the government protected land above and below ground for a potential Tube extension down Old Kent Road to Lewisham, but hopes have since faded, with London mayor Sadiq Khan saying the extension was “completely out of reach”.
That hasn’t disappointed everyone though – 72-year-old Ahmed Mechtoub said he “likes the transport because I have about four buses to the West End”.
He’s also a fan of the shops and “likes how central it is”, while saying more attention should be paid to crime: “I feel I’m not safe when I walk around, especially during the night. I’ve seen a gang of 13 with masks stealing from the shops here”.
