The extension of London Overground to a brand-new station at the heart of Barking Riverside will open to customers on Monday 18 July − months ahead of its scheduled autumn opening.
The extension will provide new quicker, easier, and sustainable journey options to this key regeneration area.
The new station at Barking Riverside is fully step-free, bringing the total across the London Overground network to more than 60 stations, helping make London a more accessible city for everyone and support people’s independence when travelling in London.
The Gospel Oak route, extending out beyond Barking along the new 4.5km of track to Barking Riverside, will help dramatically reduce journey times to Barking to just seven minutes, rather than the current 25-minute bus journey. The route will operate with four trains per hour, providing Barking Riverside with connections to the District and Hammersmith & City lines into central London and C2C trains at Barking.
Customers will be able to easily interchange with the recently opened Elizabeth line at Forest Gate, which is a short walk from Wanstead Park London Overground station, as well as River Bus services from Barking Riverside pier.
TfL has been able to open Barking Riverside station ahead of the previously scheduled autumn completion date as a result of good progress in driver training, support from Network Rail and in applying the finishing touches to the station.
Stuart Harvey, chief capital officer at Transport for London, said: “The opening of Barking Riverside station, months earlier than anticipated, is another boost for the capital, following the successful reopening of Bank station and launch of the transformational Elizabeth line.
“This extension will effectively deliver on two key priorities as London recovers from the pandemic of providing accessible, sustainable travel to much needed housing for Londoners. Residents will be able to benefit from a modern and spacious new station, which will be well connected with other local transport links including local buses and River Bus services.”
Seb Dance, Deputy Mayor for Transport, said: “Hot on the heels of the opening of the Elizabeth Line, this is more excellent news for east London. “This new station will help to pave the way for up to 10,000 new homes in Barking Riverside, thousands of which will be genuinely affordable and will ensure residents have the high-quality transport links they need. I am particularly pleased that this station is fully step-free and is opening much earlier than planned.”
Image credit: TfL
