Down by the river

Richard Clinnick turns the spotlight on London Overground’s extension to Barking Riverside.

Without the railway, the full potential of Barking Riverside will not be achieved.

Laondon's Overground network is

success story for the capital that has transformed the fortunes of the areas of the city it serves. In 2007, Transport for London took over the Silverlink routes around the city that relied upon 30-year-old electric multiple units (EMUs) and 20-year-old diesel multiple units (DMUs). Both fleets had seen better days, and they served routes that were down at heel.

It’s hard to imagine, but the North London Line was proposed for closure by Beeching in 1963, and although that was saved, following a campaign, Grant Aid was removed in the 1980s. The railway did manage to keep open some intermediate stations, but passenger numbers remained low.

Its reputation changed in the late 2000s when TfL took over management of the line. New trains replaced old units, first the EMUs, then the DMUs. Stations were re-staffed and before long passenger numbers rocketed. This was replicated on other routes; the demand was so high that the Bombardier-built Class 378s had to be upgraded from three-car to five-car trains.

The vision of a London Orbital railway was first presented in 2005, during a dark period for the UK’s railways. Parts of what are now the LO network were, at the time, part of either the national network (in terms of being run by other operators), such as parts of what is now the South London Line, or the London Underground system (the East London Line). Defunct parts of the capital’s railway network were later reopened (the line to Broad Street as far as Shoreditch) to match demand, as TfL set about transforming the capital’s railway network.

It’s been a success. Since TfL took over the management of London’s railways nearly ten years ago, passenger numbers have risen by some 400%. Sixty-five new trains have been delivered, and already one of the two fleets (eight two-car Class 172/ 0s) is to be replaced by four-car trains, after TfL ordered 45 Class 710 Aventras from Bombardier, as it seeks to transform the fortunes of routes it took over running from Abellio Greater Anglia in 2015.

It is these new trains, due in traffic next year, that will prove key to TfL’s latest plans.

Already there have been extensions to the system via the East and South London Lines,

and now plans are in place for another extension, which could be running in four years’ time, subject to various approvals.

Transport for London wants LO to run to Barking Riverside. To do this, a new railway needs to be built to allow LO trains terminating at Barking to be extended to the new development next to the Thames.

The extension, says TfL, forms part of its vision of “creating better rail services in London to meet the needs of the city’s rapidly growing population, and to support new jobs, homes and economic growth.”

A public inquiry has already been held, while three separate consultations have been completed. It is expected that a Transport and Works Act Order (TWAO) application submitted in March 2016 will be approved by the Secretary of State for Transport later this year.

The 2½-mile extension is designed to serve a new station at Barking Riverside, in the heart of a large development that will transform this part of East London.

The extension includes 0.9 miles of new railway. It will serve what TfL claims is the largest housing development in East London, where planning permission is in place for the construction of up to 10,800 new homes, subject to various conditions relating to the railway.

Additionally, retail outlets and healthcare, community and leisure facilities will be built, and TfL says that without the railway, the full potential of Barking Riverside will not be achieved.

As part of the conditions of the application for the new homes, no more than 1,500 can be built before a TWAO is granted, and no more than 4,000 are permitted before the railway opens.

Operationally, the extension would be capable of accommodating four trains per hour in each direction. They would run along the existing Tilbury Loop, sharing the tracks with c2c trains. After passing under the existing Renwick Road bridge, they would turn onto the new infrastructure, heading south to a new station in the middle of the new development.

The extension would also provide a transport link to Barking, creating an onward connection to the employment powerhouses in Central London, the Isle of Dogs and Stratford. Connections would be possible at Barking for the Hammersmith & City LU line and c2c into Fenchurch Street.