The Anonymous Widower

London Overground’s Barking Riverside Station To Open This Summer

The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Ian Visits.

This is the first paragraph.

Transport for London (TfL) says that it is bringing forward the launch of London Overground services on the extension to Barking Riverside, following good progress being made in the completion of the station commissioning and testing stages.

Are railway lines like buses? You wait years for one to come along and then several turn up in a rush.

This railway line has been built mainly to serve the new housing at Barking Riverside, but as I showed in A Cruise To Barking – 13th May 2022, the route will have leisure possibilities as well.

I also feel, that if this 4.5 km extension of the Gospel Oak and Barking Line is a success, I can see other extensions of Metros and local trams and railways being created or restored, as this extension will show the economics.

I have some further thoughts.

Rethinking Of c2c Services In South Essex

It could even result in a rethinking of c2c services in South Essex.

Platforms 7 and 8 at Barking station will host the following services.

• 2 tph (trains per hour)  – Fenchurch Street and Grays
• 4 tph – Barking Riverside and Gospel Oak

There will certainly be scope for ducking and diving at this station.

A same-platform interchange will give an easy route between Fenchurch Street and Barking Riverside.

The next station on the Gospel Oak and Barking Line is Woodgrange Park, which has an out-of-station interchange with the Elizabeth Line at Manor Park station.

The Gospel Oak and Barking Line offers connections all across North London.

Grays station can probably turn four tph.

There could be a new Beam Park station to serve more housing.

I can certainly see the Fenchurch Street and Grays service increased to four tph, if lots of housing is built in South Essex. Provided that the trains can be squeezed in to the timetable.

A Ferry Across The Thames At Barking

There have been proposals to extend the line from Barking Riverside station across the Thames to Thamesmead and Abbey Wood station.

But a tunnel or a bridge, as I prefer, would be massively expensive and take years to plan, finance and build.

This Google Map shows the Thames at Barking.

Note.

1. Barking Riverside station under construction in the North-West corner of the map, with the Thames Clipper terminal on the North bank of the river.
2. The sprawling Thamesmead Estate on the South bank of the river.
3.  In the South-East corner of the map there is the Grade 1 Listed Crossness pumping station, which I wrote about in Open House – Crossness.

An hourly ferry across the river between Barking and Crossness with an intermediate stop at Thamesmead might be the most affordable solution to crossing the river.

June 14, 2022 - Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | Barking Riverside, Barking Riverside Station, c2c, Crossness, Ferry, Gospel Oak And Barking Line, River Thames, Thames Clipper, Thamesmead