The brand-new Barking Riverside station is set to open this summer
(Picture: TfL)The London Overground extension from Barking to Barking Riverside is set to open months ahead of schedule, TfL has confirmed.
Originally set to open this autumn, the brand-new station at Barking Riverside will now open this summer.
It will connect thousands more people to the London Overground network and open the door for as many as 10,000 new homes to be built.
Work began on the new station in 2018 after TfL announced plans to extend the Gospel Oak to Barking line – colloquially known as the “GOBLIN” line – by 4.5 kilometres towards the banks of the River Thames to support a new development there.
TfL has said the extension will “drastically” cut journey times for those travelling between Barking and Barking Riverside. The journey currently takes around 25 minutes by bus but will take just seven minutes on the new Overground route.
Stuart Harvey, TfL’s chief capital officer, said: “Through fantastic collaboration with our partners working on this project, including the MSVF joint venture of Morgan Sindall Infrastructure and VolkerFitzpatrick, Network Rail and Arriva Rail London, I am pleased to confirm that the Barking Riverside Extension will open this summer.
“The extension will be a game changer for Barking Riverside - vastly improving transport connectivity, accessibility and helping to realise plans to deliver much needed housing.”
The Barking Riverside development is set to become the largest housing development in east London, based on a huge brownfield site formerly home to Barking Power Station.
In addition to almost 10,000 new homes, the development will also be home to new schools as well as shops and leisure facilities.
Driver training and route testing along the new 4.5km of track began back in May and TfL has said it will continue “to ensure customers have a reliable service from day one”.
The Barking Riverside extension was originally supposed to open in 2021 but this was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
In December 2020, it was revealed the cost of the project had also increased by more than £30 million from £294 million to £327 million.
