A quick news update
for rail enthusiasts and commuters; the Gospel Oak to Barking Line will be
closed on 4th June for major upgrade work. This will mean
the Class 172 Turbostar DMU’s (Diesel Multiple-Unit) will soon be replaced with
the new Class 710 as part of the electrification upgrade.
From TFL press release
Customers
and local residents are being reminded that major upgrade work to the London
Overground route between Gospel Oak and Barking will result in a phased closure
starting Saturday 4 June 2016, as part of Network Rail's Railway Upgrade Plan.
In total an eight month closure of the railway is needed to carry out this
vital work.
Network
Rail is delivering the project, which is funded by the Department for Transport
and Transport for London (TfL). The project will see TfL introduce new four-car electric trains to replace the existing two-car diesel trains from January
2018, helping to meet growing passenger demand.
Network Rail will
carry out major work including lowering four sections of track on the route,
installing structures to carry the overhead wires and rebuilding four bridges, which will take place
in two phases and result in changes to train services. From Saturday 4 June to Sunday 25 September 2016
there will be no service between South Tottenham and Barking. Trains will run
on weekdays between Gospel Oak and South Tottenham, however not at weekends.
TfL will be providing rail replacement buses which will operate along the
route.
From Monday 26
September 2016 to February 2017, a full closure in both directions from Gospel
Oak to Barking is required.
A
short summary video of the project can be watched here
www.networkrail.co.uk/gobe
Network
Rail's Route Managing Director, Richard Schofield, said: `Passenger demand is
growing, particularly in London, and Network Rail is carrying out major upgrade
work to build a bigger and better railway for passengers as part of its Railway
Upgrade Plan. Electrifying a Victorian railway like this one is major
engineering work to create the extra space needed for overhead power lines. It
would be impossible to do this without closing the railway and I would like to
thank passengers and local residents in advance for their patience and
understanding while we carry out this vital modernisation.'
Mike
Stubbs, TfL's Director of London Overground, said: `The work being carried out
by Network Rail will enable us to run new longer walk-through trains on the
line from January 2018, which will double capacity on the route.
`We,
along with Network Rail, have been publicising the work and the alternative
travel arrangements and have held drop-in sessions at all 12 stations along the
route to ensure that customers are well informed. We know that there will be
disruption and would like to thank customers in advance for their patience in
the upcoming months while this essential work takes place.'
From
June to September two replacement bus services will operate as follows:
·
Service
T: Walthamstow Central - Leyton Midland Road - Leytonstone High Road - Wanstead
Park - Woodgrange Park - East Ham- Barking.
·
Service
J (weekends only): Gospel Oak - Upper Holloway - Crouch Hill - Finsbury Park -
Harringay Green Lanes - Seven Sisters (for South Tottenham).
There
is no replacement bus service between South Tottenham and Walthamstow Queen's
Road stations and customers are advised to use the Victoria line which is a
faster alternative. Full details of the alternative travel and ticketing
arrangements can be found at: tfl.gov.uk/london-overground-closure.
Regular
pay as you go users of the Gospel Oak to Barking line will be automatically
refunded the additional cost of travel via Zone 1 by Tube or rail.
From
February 2017 onwards further works to have the line ready for electric trains
will take place during evenings and weekends only and will be completed by the
end of June 2017.
You
can follow me on Twitter, Tumblr,
Pinterest and Google Plus which
is @CLondoner92
Image Attribution
By Sunil060902 - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=20471192
