07.04.16
Gospel Oak to Barking Line to close for eight months for electrification upgrades
Closures on the Gospel Oak to Barking Line are due to start from June to allow for electrification upgrades.
From 4 June to 25 September the South Tottenham to Barking line will close and the South Tottenham to Gospel Oak line will only run at weekends, and the full Gospel Oak to Barking line will then close from 26 September to February 2017. TfL will provide a replacement bus service.
Once complete, the upgrades will allow TfL to run four-carriage electric trains instead of the current two-carriage diesel models from January 2018.
Richard Schofield, Network Rail’s route managing director, said: “This investment will transform the service on this route, doubling capacity with cleaner, quieter electric trains and is a key element of our wider Railway Upgrade Plan.”
The improvement works will include installing overhead wires, building three new switching stations, lowering four sections of track, rebuilding four bridges and modernising six, and lengthening platforms and enhancing stations to accommodate longer trains.
Network Rail has been working on the foundations for the structures that will carry the overhead wires since October. The scheme is being funded by £25m from TfL and £90m from the DfT.
The National Infrastructure Commission said in a recent report that extensive investment in London’s railways, including Crossrail 2, is needed to accommodate the growing population of the capital, which will become a ‘megacity’ of 10 million people by 2033.
To keep members of the public updated about the closures, TfL and Network Rail are organising drop-in sessions at the affected stations and sharing information via e-mail alerts, Twitter, posters and station announcements.
Mike Stubbs, TfL’s director of London Overground, said: “We recognise that there will be disruption to customers while the upgrade work is carried out and I'd like to thank them for their patience in advance.”
He said that TfL would work with Network Rail to try to reduce the closure period.