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TfL seeks cash approval for Barking extension

Transport for London’s (TfL’s) Finance & Policy Committee is expected to approve “as a matter of urgency” £172m of third party funding today so that the Barking Riverside Line extension can be accepted by transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin.

In its second meeting of the year, the committee’s agenda is entirely focused on the Barking project, which will see the Gospel Oak to Barking line extended by 4km to Barking Riverside, including 1.5km of new track.

The project, expected to cost around £263m if no prices change ahead of its pencilled completion date of 2021, has received “overwhelming support” from residents in public consultations.

Around £95m of that funding will come from budgeted TfL finances, while the rest will be met by Barking Riverside Line (BRL), a joint venture between Bellway Homes plc and the Greater London Authority.

BRL is leading on the delivery of a 10,800-strong housing estate in east London, which will include a new station served by the extended line.

If approved today, the extra funding will allow project leaders to progress the designs of the extension to a Network Rail GRIP 5 stage, as well as make an application to the Department for Transport to secure the rights to plan and operate the line.

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The final consultation for the project, launched in December and recently closed in late January, determined that ‘alignment B’ was the preferred route: a twin-tracked route between Renwick Road and Barking Riverside along a single viaduct.

The viaduct would pass over the freight terminal and Choats Road before dropping under the power lines and continuing into Barking Riverside. The eastbound line, towards Barking Riverside, would spur directly from the Tilbury loop passenger line, east of Barking station. The westbound line towards Barking would merge with the westbound Tilbury loop passenger line to the west of the Ripple Lane sidings.

Once ready, the extension will take four trains per hour to Barking, where passengers will be able to connect with District and Hammersmith & City tube services and c2c services into Fenchurch Street station.

As of now, the basic timetable for the project is to submit an application to central government by spring this year, with designs completed by spring 2017 and the main contract awarded by autumn next year.