Barking Riverside London Overground
The completed station in July 2022
Barking Riverside is located in Greater London
Barking Riverside
Barking Riverside
Location of Barking Riverside in Greater London
LocationBarking
Local authorityLondon Borough of Barking and Dagenham
Managed byLondon Overground
OwnerTransport for London
Station codeBGV
Number of platforms2
Fare zone4
National Rail annual entry and exit
2022–230.461 million[1]
Key dates
18 July 2022Opened
Other information
External links
WGS8451°31′09″N 0°06′53″E / 51.519108°N 0.114764°E / 51.519108; 0.114764
 London transport portal

Barking Riverside is a railway station in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, East London. The station serves the Barking Riverside regeneration area,[2][3] and was built as part of a £327m extension of the Gospel Oak to Barking Line to the area.[4] It opened on 18 July 2022.[5] It is served by London Overground, and provides interchange with the Uber Boat by Thames Clippers boat service from Barking Riverside Pier.[6]

The extension runs partly over the existing London, Tilbury and Southend line from Barking, operated over by c2c, and over 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) of new track laid to the new station.[7] The extension reduces typical journey times to the centre of Barking from the area by 18 minutes.[8]

History

The Barking Riverside development is a brownfield site of some 440 acres (180 ha), on the site of the former Barking Power Station. The site has planning permission for around 10,800 homes, however planning restrictions prevent more than 1,200 homes without adequate transport links.[9]

An extension of the Docklands Light Railway to Dagenham Dock was proposed in the mid 2000s at a cost of around £750m,[10] however this extension was cancelled in 2008 by then Mayor of London Boris Johnson.[11] Following this, Transport for London assessed various options to bring transport links to Barking Riverside, including the previously proposed DLR extension, extension of the Hammersmith & City line to Grays, new segregated, high frequency bus services and a new station at Renwick Road.[12]

Following a decision to extend the Gospel Oak to Barking line to the area in 2014,[13] the proposed route was consulted on in 2014, 2015 and 2016.[14] Following this, a Transport and Works Act Order for the extension and new station was submitted in March 2016.[15] As part of this process, a public inquiry was held in October 2016. The Transport and Works Order was approved in August 2017.[16][17]

Construction

Following approval of the Transport and Works Order in August 2017,[16] construction on the extension by a joint venture of Morgan Sindall and VolkerFitzpatrick[18] began in late 2018.[19] Construction was originally expected to take 3 years at a cost of £260m,[10] with the new station opening in December 2021.[2] The station building has been designed by Weston Williamson.[20][21] Following delays caused by COVID-19 pandemic restrictions and utility diversion issues,[22] it was announced in December 2020 that the extension would be delayed until Autumn 2022, with a cost increase to £327m.[4]

Opening

In June 2022, TfL announced that the extension's opening would be brought forward to open in summer 2022.[23] This was followed by an announcement on 11 July 2022 that services would begin on 18 July 2022.[5] The opening coincided with the 2022 United Kingdom heat wave with temperatures of nearly 40°C. TfL issued a warning to passengers advising them to only travel if essential. As a result, the first day of operation saw few passengers.[24]

Future

As part of the future development of the area, the Barking Riverside town centre will be built adjacent to the station, with public space, shops, community facilities and a bus interchange.[25]

Gospel Oak to Barking line with Barking Riverside extension (and proposed Renwick Road station)

Route

Leaving Barking station towards the southeast, the extension of the Gospel Oak to Barking line runs on the London, Tilbury and Southend line for around 2.4 km (1.5 mi). It then branches from the existing line, passing underneath Renwick Road where a future station at Renwick Road has been passively safeguarded.[26] The extension then turns south, crossing the main line and the Ripple Lane freight yard on a viaduct, as well as crossing over the High Speed 1 tunnels. The viaduct then continues south for 1.5 km (0.93 mi) to the elevated station at Barking Riverside.[2]

There have also been calls to extend the line further south across the river to Thamesmead and Abbey Wood.[27][28] In August 2017, the Government granted permission for the extension, with a future provision for a stop at Renwick Road. A future extension across the Thames is not prevented by this project, however an extension of the Docklands Light Railway to Thamesmead has been proposed instead.[16][17]

The station is owned by Transport for London, however the railway infrastructure was handed over to Network Rail upon project completion.[10]

Services

All services at Barking Riverside are operated by London Overground using Class 710 EMUs.

The typical off-peak service is four trains per hour to and from Gospel Oak, reducing to three trains per hour in the late evenings.[29][30]

Preceding station London Overground Following station
Barking
towards Gospel Oak
 Gospel Oak to Barking line Terminus

Connections

Thames Clippers services from Barking Riverside Pier are a short walk away from the station.[6] East London Transit branded bus routes EL1 and EL3 also serve the station.

References

  1. ^ "Estimates of station usage". Rail statistics. Office of Rail Regulation. Please note: Some methodology may vary year on year.
  2. ^ a b c "Improvements and Projects - Barking Riverside extension". Transport for London. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
  3. ^ Cox, Sophie (24 July 2020). "Barking Riverside Overground extension to continue despite cuts in TfL emergency budget". Barking and Dagenham Post. Retrieved 20 January 2021.
  4. ^ a b Horgan, Rob (7 December 2020). "TfL's Barking Riverside Extension suffers year delay and another cost hike". New Civil Engineer. Archived from the original on 7 December 2020. Retrieved 20 January 2021.
  5. ^ a b "London Overground: Opening date of first new stop since 2015 confirmed". BBC News. 11 July 2022. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
  6. ^ a b "Barking Riverside - Uber Boat by Thames Clippers". www.thamesclippers.com. Retrieved 25 August 2022.
  7. ^ "Anglia Route Study" (PDF). Networkrail.co.uk. March 2016. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
  8. ^ "Council welcomes news on Barking Riverside Overground Station opening in the summer | LBBD". Barking and Dagenham Council. Archived from the original on 19 June 2022. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
  9. ^ "Boris Johnson calls for creation of new 'garden suburb' in Barking and Dagenham". Evening Standard. 13 February 2014. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
  10. ^ a b c Johnson, Marc (12 September 2017). "In focus: London Overground's Barking Riverside Extension". RailStaff. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
  11. ^ "TfL scraps projects and cuts jobs". BBC News. 6 November 2008. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
  12. ^ "London Overground Barking Riverside Extension Transport Options Backcheck Report" (PDF). Transport for London. July 2016.
  13. ^ "Barking Riverside London Overground extension plans". Transport for London. 8 September 2014. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
  14. ^ "Have your say on the proposed London Overground extension to Barking Riverside - Transport for London - Citizen Space". consultations.tfl.gov.uk. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
  15. ^ "Barking Riverside extension - Transport for London". Tfl.gov.uk. 31 March 2016. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
  16. ^ a b c "Barking riverside extension: Transport and Works Act order". GOV.UK. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
  17. ^ a b Morton, Sophie (4 August 2017). "Transport secretary approves Barking Riverside Overground extension". Barking and Dagenham Post. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
  18. ^ "Contractor for Overground Barking Riverside extension". Transport for London. 21 December 2018. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
  19. ^ "JV picks up £196m Barking Riverside contract delayed by Carillion collapse". Construction News. 24 December 2018. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
  20. ^ Pitcher, Greg (15 August 2017). "Weston Williamson to deliver Moxon's Barking Riverside station". The Architects’ Journal. Retrieved 21 January 2021. [Weston Williamson] has taken the east London project from Moxon Architects" "it was now acting as architect on the scheme.
  21. ^ Partners, Weston Williamson + (21 January 2021). "Barking Riverside". WestonWilliamson+Partners. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
  22. ^ Horgan, Rob (12 December 2019). "Buried utilities threaten to delay TfL's Barking Riverside Extension". New Civil Engineer. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
  23. ^ "New station at Barking Riverside to open this summer". BBC News. 13 June 2022. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
  24. ^ Marius, Callum (18 July 2022). "New London Overground station opens with hardly any passengers due to heatwave". My London. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
  25. ^ "What's coming to Barking Riverside". Barking Riverside. Retrieved 25 August 2022. With thousands of people commuting through the District Centre for shopping or heading to the river, arriving here feels special. This commercial zone includes both the new Overground station and the riverboat pier and will evolve to become a destination point for new community facilities, cultural events and business opportunities.
  26. ^ "Barking Riverside Extension Intermediate Station Feasibility Report" (PDF). Transport for London. December 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 August 2017. Retrieved 14 July 2017.
  27. ^ "Thamesmead & Abbey Wood Extension". 11 August 2015. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
  28. ^ Murphy-Bates, Sebastian (4 October 2016). "Sadiq Khan gives go-ahead to Barking Overground extension". Barking and Dagenham Post. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
  29. ^ Table 62 National Rail timetable, December 2023
  30. ^ "London Overground Timetable: Gospel Oak to Barking" (PDF). Transport for London. Retrieved 8 January 2024.

External links

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