More Step Free Access On The Overground
Looking at the London Overground map for 2026, there appear to be additional stations marked for step-free access.
Blackhorse Road – Plans are detailed here. They may be already completed!
Brockley – Improvements in the near future are detailed here.
Honor Oak Park – Improvements in the near future are detailed here.
New Cross – Improvements in the near future are detailed here.
New Cross Gate – This station would appear to be being rebuilt.
South Tottenham – Plans are detailed here in the Haringey Independent.
Watford Junction – I suspect that as everything seems to be happening at Watford Junction, full disabled access will be achieved by 2026.
Whitechapel – This will happen before 2020, as Crossrail will bring step free access between all lines here.
It does seem that all of these schemes seem to be following what appears to be Transport for London’s policy of improving the London Overground on a step-by-step basis as funding allows.
I suppose that with the Overground, putting in lifts and ramps is a lot easier, as the stations except for a few are totally above ground.
London Overground’s 2026 Map
Transport for London (TfL) have published a map of what they feel the London Overground will look like in 2026.
Most of the changes actually will occur next year, so I suspect there will be other things added before 2026.
My money would be on some of these being completed.
- Electrification of the Dudding Hill Line as a westward extension of the Gospel Oak to Barking Line to rejoin the North London Line.
- A More Comprehensive Interchange at West Hampstead station.
- Some developer-led station rebuilds and perhaps additions.
- Reopening Of the Hall Farm Curve to enable services between Chingford and Stratford, with a stop at Lea Bridge.
- Extra Overground branded services in a loop across South London.
With the exception of the electrification of the Dudding Hill Line and the works at West Hampstead, most of the other projects could probably be classed as smallish ones in terms of cost to TfL. But they may have a high return.
At present the Overground is being upgraded to take five-car trains, but judging by this picture taken at Camden Road station, it would appear that where they can fit them in, platforms are being readied for the next upgrade to six cars.
Platform Extension At Camden Road Station
TfL have said, that where stations can’t be extended selective door opening will be used. As the Class 378 trains are walk-through and have a full information system, I’m sure the self-loading cargo, will get used to it.
This afternoon, I travelled along the North London Line and it would also appear that TfL are taking the opportunity presented by the platform lengthening to widen a few of the narrower platforms, like those at West Hampstead. This picture was taken at Brondesbury Park.
An Oasis At Brondesbury Park
It would appear that they’ve created a much wider platform with a roof and a garden.
TfL also don’t seem to be using a one-size-fits-all at the stations. Too often railway lines seem to be designed to a very limited set of rules to save costs. The London Overground inherited a series of run-down and mismatched stations, which they have almost used to advantage. Some like Hampstead Heath, were probably beyond saving, so they have rebuilt them to a station that befits their location.
In asddition, three external factors will drive the development of the London Overground; freight, the need for the development of more homes and commercial properties of all sorts and Crossrail.
Freight
The Overground gives over a lot of paths to freight, especially on the northern lines. A lot of these trains are still hauled by unfriendly Class 66 diesel locomotives. Alternative electric locomotives or the new Class 88, should be an aspiration for all lines that go through cities.
Bear in mind that once, the Midland Main Line, the Great Western Main Line and the Gospel Oak to Barking Line are electrified, which should all be complete by 2020, the Dudding Hill Line would be the only line, habitually used by freight trains in the northern part of London, not to be electrified.
So for freight reasons alone, I would think electrifying the Dudding Hill Line is a good idea.
But expect a few surprises if Option 1 is implemented, as Transport for London and especially the Overground has a history of doing the unexpected but excellent. Look at the one platform solution at Clapham Junction, where the West and South London Lines of the network meet.
Development of New Homes and Commercial Properties
London may need new railways to cope with the increased population, but it also needs new homes and commercial properties. Land in London is at a premium, but see what was done here in building flats over the new Dalston Junction station.
Residential Development Over Dalston Junction
It is not the highest quality of developments, but it was probably the best that could be done at the height of the recession. Small scale development is already taking place at some stations like Highbury and Islington and West Hampstead.
But in this country, we have some very good architects and developers, so I would expect to see some innovative development proposals all round the London Overground.
I must admit, that if I had to live in a modern development, surely one on top of a well-connected railway station is probably best!
Crossrail
London’s new railway; Crossrail, will change a lot of things in London’s transport system.
As a simple example if I go to Heathrow from home, the journey takes about an hour and twenty-two minutes. But after Crossrail is running, the journey will take less than an hour.
But this means, I’ll take the East London Line to Whitechapel to connect with Crossrail.
In addition, Crossrail and the Overground have interchanges at Stratford, Whitechapel and probably by 2026 at Old Oak Common.
So I suspect that many journeys in London will change because of Crossrail.
Predictions made now will be valueless after Crossrail opens in 2019.
Should The Gospel Oak To Barking Line Be Extended To Barking Riverside?
There is no doubt in my mind, that the Barking Riverside area needs better transport links. I was there mid-morning and the buses were busy. One lady told me that buses in the area weren’t reliable.
So either the Gospel Oak To Barking Line or the Docklands Light Railway must be extended.
It would appear that TfL has chosen the heavy rail solution and they have started a consultation and published this map.
GOBlin Extension To Barking Riverside
The housing looked to be of good quality, although there are reports that some of the first houses weren’t.
When I see housing like this, I am reminded of our first and only house, where I took the car to work and C was stuck in all day with a baby, in a place with no public transport.
It didn’t do much good for our relationship!
Barking Riverside could have in the future a population of around 26,000. This makes it all the more essential that something is added to the two bus routes with a frequency of five buses an hour.
I actually think, that when the area is fully developed, this extension to the Gospel Oak To Barking Line, will need to be augmented. Especially, if the line is extended again under the river to Abbey Wood.
But before we go to Abbey Wood, wouldn’t it be a good idea to follow the electrification of the Gospel Oak To Barking Line with electrification of the Dudding Hill Line, so that trains could go all the way to West Hampstead, Acton and ultimately to Hounslow, as is proposed in Transport for London’s Tranpost Plan for 2050.
A Tribute To Joan Rivers From The London Overground
This article in the Independent, flags up a tribute to Joan Rivers written on a customer information board at Hackney Wick Overground station.
She had a good innings and I for one, will miss her outstanding brand of humour. The only certain thing, is that someone in the future will come along with something more outrageous.
Is Work Starting On The Hackney Downs/Central Link?
I took this picture today.
Is Work Starting On The Hackney Downs/Central Link?
It looks like something is finally happening to build the pedestrian link between the two stations.
It should all become clear in the coming weeks.
What’s The Opposite Of Mushroom Management?
Mushroom management is an old concept, that is a big joke in the dictionary of bad project management. It even has a Wikipedia article, which gives this short description.
keep them in the dark, feed them bullshit, watch them grow
I have on the whole not really suffered from this type of management, as I’ve been managed by some good people.
So it was with great interest that I found this document on the Transport for London web site.
It is a progress report on the various capacity improvements on the London Overground.
It certainly isn’t a document to keep everybody in the dark.
It even gives the phone number and e-mail address of the guy who is in charge of the projects.
We need more fully accessible documents like this one for public projects.
Is Whitechapel Station Going To Be A Jewel In The East?
When I wrote about Crossrail as a tourist attraction, I said nothing about the station at Whitechapel.
I probably didn’t as although I use the station regularly, you don’t see much as you pass through except for hoardings with lots of graphics, pictures and information. When I went through last time, I took these pictures.
It shows the construction going on over the two north-south Overground platforms. Crossrail will run east-west about forty metres down. Note how the Underground is on top of the Overground.
I was told by a man in an orange suit, that there will be a bridge over the Overground platforms connecting it all together. Escalators to Crossrail will be going down from between the two Underground platforms, where the blue crane is now situated. The space between the Underground platforms will then be filled in to create a wide island platform with the two lines on either side. It will be an easy step-free interchange from Crossrail to the Underground.
There are some detailed architect’s impressions of the new station here. The page also says this.
The new Whitechapel Crossrail station will use the existing Whitechapel Road entrance to the Whitechapel London Underground and London Overground station.
The Crossrail platforms will be in deep tunnels to the north of the existing station but they will all share a concourse, ticket hall, gateline and station operations room, leading to a fully integrated station that provides an easy step-free interchange between the Crossrail, Hammersmith and City, District and Overground lines.
Transport for London’s, Transport Infrastructure Plan for 2050, states that at some point twenty-four trains per hour will run through this section of the Overground in both directions.
This matches the Crossrail and Thameslink frequencies, so once all these lines are complete, London will have gained a high-frequency H-shaped railway, where journeys like Luton, Brighton or Peterborough to Crystal Palace or Walthamstow might be accomplished using two easy step-free changes. In fact, the biggest problem after 2019 about travel in London, will be choosing which of two or three equally fast and convenient routes is best for you.
Travel is going to be fun!
I suspect Whitechapel might be my entry into Crossrail and Thameslink. I’ll just walk to Dalston Junction, take a four stop journey to Whitechapel and then fan out to the myriad destinations, that can be reached directly from there.
The Future Of Overground Travel
I found this article in Process and Control Today, which gives insight into the thinking of those behind the development of the London Overground and especially with respect to providing wi-fi for passengers.
I am very much in favour of free wi-fi without cumbersome logins on public transport, as I feel it might help those idiots, who commute by cars, to convert to a more efficient mode.
How many years will it be before all UK trains, buses and taxis have free wi-fi, with city centres providing it just as I found in Gdansk? To quote Cathy McGowan. “I’ll give it five!” But that’s probably only an at most!
I believe that if a city like London, made itself into a free wi-fi zone, that it would give a strong boost to the economy in terms of more tourism and visitors and it would encourage businesses to set up in the city.
But when did I hear a politician ever talk about the benefits of free wi-fi?
Can We Extend Overground Connectivity In North London?
The East London Line has four termini in South London; New Cross, West Croydon, Crystal Palace and Clapham Junction, but only two in the North; Dalston Junction and Highbury and Islington.
In the North the Lea Valley Lines are being added to the system and although these lines meet the North London Line at the Hackney Downs/Central station complex, they are not intimately connected to the core route of the East London Line, as this would need a change of train at Canonbury.
So how could we improve the extend the connectivity?
Hackney Central/Downs
I regularly take the Overground from Stratford to my home. On a wet day, I would take a train to Canonbury from Stratford, walk across the platform to a southbound train and then go one stop to Dalston Junction, from where I would get a bus two stops to my home. On a sunny day, I might change at Hackney Central to a 38 bus or walk from Dalston Kingsland.
But I usually take the Canonbury route, as it has the least amount of walking and if I’ve got a heavy parcel, there is a lift at Dalston Junction.
The two Hackney stations are being connected by a covered high level walk and this would help those changing between the North London Line and Lea Valley and Cambridge services.
But two other things could be done, if the run-down area around the stations is redeveloped.
If you want to get a bus or walk to the Town Hall area, after alighting on the westbound platform at Hackney Central, you have to cross the tracks on a footbridge. An entrance needs to be provided on the south side of the station.
The connection to the buses are better than they were a few years ago, but Downs/Central should have easy access to stops for the high-frequency bus routes that pass through the area.
I have a feeling that they may have spent a lot of money on making the footbridge step-free with lifts and in a few years time, it will be rarely used, as other better routes are developed. A southern entrance would help in this respect.
Crossrail 2 will be the driving force here, as the planners have stated a preference for only having one station in Hackney, to save a billion pounds. Whether this station is Dalston Junction or Hackney Downs/Central doesn’t matter, provided that these two stations are connected by other means. There are already two routes; the North London Line and the high-frequency buses.
For this reason, the access to buses from Hackney Downs/Central must be made as easy as possible. But that doesn’t need to wait for Crossrail 2!
There is a superb opportunity here for a developer to create a real town centre at Hackney Central/Downs, of which everybody can be proud. The original station building is not used, but it is a building worthy of saving as are few other historic buildings in the area.
An Extra Terminal In The North
If the frequency on the core section of the East London Line is increased from 16 tph to 24 tph as is stated in TfL’s plans, there could be a need for another Northern terminus to supplement Dalston Junction and Highbury and Islington, where these trains could turn back.
An extra terminus might ease the overcrowding that is prevalent at Highbury and Islington.
In the original plans for the Overground, there was talk about some East London Line trains going as far as Willesden Junction and terminating there.
With plans for a new super station at Old Oak Common, that could be a possibility. But even New Cross to Old Oak Common would be a journey of about an hour, and there will be faster ways via Crossrail at Whitechapel.
So a terminus for the East London Line at Willesden Junction or Old Oak Common, would be more about inceasing the frequency of trains on the North London Line, by using some of the eight extra trains an hour on the East London Line to provide the extra trains.
There are two other possibilities for extra Northern terminals.
If the Dalston Eastern Curve were to be reopened, then trains could move easily between Hackney Downs/Central and Stratford and the East London Line.
This would mean that Stratford could be an additional terminal and also that some East London Line trains could have an interchange with the Lea Valley Lines.
There is also a curve at Canonbury that connects the North London Line to the East Coast Main Line. It used to be double track, but is only single track now! So could this be used to get to a new Northern terminus?
The Canonbury Curve To The East Coast Main Line
It all depends on the passenger flows, which of course TfL has at its fingertips.
We must also take note of passenger behaviour in using cross-city railways.
When Crossrail opens in 2019, all parameters will change, as many who want to use the East London Line to get on the Underground at Highbury and Islington, might get on Crossrail at Whitechapel instead. This passenger will probably go to Oxford Street, by walking to Dalston Junction, before taking the East London Line to Whitechapel for Crossrail. The alternative of taking a bus to Highbury and Islington and then getting the Victoria line, means I have to use a station I avoid as much as possible, due to the excessive walking involved to get to the trains.
The Eastern Curve At Dalston Junction
This seems an easy option to improve connectivity, as it would allow trains to pass easily between Stratford and Hackney Downs/Central and the East London Line. But there are two problems.
It might be a difficult sell to the Dalstonistas and the shopping centre at Dalston Kingsland is being redeveloped, although the Eastern Curve is safeguarded.
It would seem though, that in the next couple of years, there is a chance to make a good fist of sorting out the shops and stations at Dalston.
Tying In The Lea Valley Lines
There has been little or no speculation about how the London Overground will link the Lea Valley Lines to their current lines. London Overground has said that it will deep clean the trains and stations and that new trains are on the way.
They have also got at least three out of station interchanges between the new lines and the current system.
- Walthamstow Central to Walthamstow Queens Road.
- Hackney Downs to Hackney Central, although the way that is going, it will probably become a single station.
- Seven Sisters to South Tottenham
There are also a couple of junctions where useful connectivity already exists.
There is a rail line called the High Meads Loop that goes between the Lee Valley Lines and the North London Line, virtually straight under the old Olympic Village. This is the North London Line End just after Hackney Wick station.
High Meads Loop At Stratford Joins North London Line
And this is the other end on the Lea Valley Line, between Stratford and Tottenham Hale
High Meads Loop At Stratford Joins Lea Valley Line
Incidentally, I don’t think there is a station under all those dwellings.
There is also another junction that links the Lea Valley Line to the Gospel Oak to Barking Line to the East of South Tottenham station.
Perhaps the most interesting proposal though, is to reinstate the Hall Farm Curve in conjunction with the reopening of Lea Bridge station. I travel to Walthamstow Central regularly and the curent timetable of the GreaterAnglia service is a bit threadbare to say the least. So if this curve is reopened, will we see trains linking Walthamstow to Stratford and even to and along the North London Line by way of the link I showed in the pictures to my local station at Dalston.
If the Eastern Curve at Dalston Junction was to be reinstated, then some of those extra trains through the core section of the East London Line could go to Walthamstow and Chingford.
Summing Up
The more I look at the East London Line, the basic concept of a high frequency line through Marc Brunel’s Thames Tunnel, fanning out to several destinations on both sides of the river, was a stroke of genius, which was probably dreamed up in the time-honoured manner of so many other good ideas on the back of serviettes, beer mats or fag packets in a real ale hostelry somewhere.
Who can predict with any certainty what the Overground will look like in 2020, let alone the 2050 target of Transport for London?
The only certainty is that Transport for London will have created another iconic brand to go with Underground and Routemaster.
It could also be argued that London’s three new cross-London lines;Thameslink, Crossrail and East London, are all following a similar design of a central tunnelled core, with a collection of branches at each end.
Certainly the current Thameslink and East London Line have shown that the concept works and if they perform in the next few years, this can only mean that further lines in London and further afield follow a similar pattern. Crossrail is adding more branches and termini and the basic design for the proposed Crossrail 2 appears to have been designed by the use of a photocopier.
Are There Any Sensible Places For New Stations On The Overground?
This is just a list of possible Overground stations that have been tslked about.
Maiden Lane on the North London Line
With so much money being spent in this area on property development to say Never about this station would not be a safe bet. I once researched and proposed a walking route that connected Kings Cross, St. Pancras and Euston. If this was operated by electric people movers and included a connection to Maiden Lane, it might just be made to work.
But it will be all those offices at Kings Cross Central between Kings Cross/St. Pancras and the North London Line, that will decide if Maiden Lane station is reopened.
North Acton on the North London Line
No one thinks this is that likely, but it does link the Central Line to the Overground, in an area where a lot of development is happening. If the Goblin Extension to Hounslow is scheduled, this station might become more likely.
Earls Court on the West London Line
Nothing is planned here yet, but read this post on London Reconnections. A large amount of residential and other development is to be built over the West London Line at Earls Court. The railway line will be enclosed in a concrete box. This sounds very similar to Crossrail at Woolwich, where a station is being built under a massive development.
There must be very good reasons for not doing the same thing at Earls Court!
Brixton on the South London Line
There has been a lot of pressure for a connection at Brixton to the Victoria Line. But if you look at this post, you’ll see why it will probably never happen.
East Brixton on the South London Line
East Brixton is probably a better option than Brixton and the proposal is discussed here.
Camberwell on the South London Line
I have assumed this to be at Loughborough Junction and I’ve discussed it here.But it could be at East Brixton. The developments around the station will probably decide what station gets built.
Surrey Canal Road on the South London Line
When the new South London Line was created and opened in 2012, provision was made for the building of this station. According to this article in Wikipedia, it now looks that a start could be made on the station in the near future with a possible opening date of 2015.
It would appear that Transport for London got their planning right with this station. When the money became available, the building of the station was able to proceed.
Gospel Oak to Barking
There are various plans listed here.
Summing Up
I think we might see some of these plans come to fruition.
Surrey Canal Road should be a model for the creation of new stations on the Overground.
The Anonymous Widower 