Gospel Oak-Barking Line news

A few quick quotes from the Barking - Gospel Oak Line User Group's latest news update:

[...] as all the track works to permit 4-trains-per-hour running will be complete, commissioned and tested by Easter 2009, we want that service frequency to start ahead of schedule in May 2009 [...]

[...] the new in-train maps show useful details of walking distance between our stations and others nearby - but oddly omit the Wanstead Park/Forest Gate interchange

[...] As a stop-gap the three-seat rows are to be converted to two-seaters to increase standing room, but regrettably it seems the North London Line trains are taking precedence over ours for this work to be done

Waltham Forest Council have assured us that there is firm commitment at senior level to getting the long-overdue pedestrian link constructed between Queens Road and Central

Oddly, they don't seem to know Boris thinks the line's getting three car trains in 2010.

Mayor's Question Time: July 2008

A few interesting items from the most recent Mayor's Question Time:

• Trains on the Gospel Oak to Barking Line will be lengthened to three cars by 2010. Electrification of the line is too expensive.
  
• Bus roofs are being painted white to help keep them cool.
  
• Boris likes Greenwich Waterfront Transit.
  
• This list of South London transport improvements includes things like Greenwich Waterfront Transport but conspicuously not Cross River Tram. Nail, coffin, etc.
  
• Croydon's tram system will be getting deep cleaned and refurbished, as well as a new livery and new seat moquettes.
  
• The first three bus routes to be unbendied will be the 38, 507 and 521, with "appropriate" capacity to be provided by the double deckers (note not "the same" capacity).
  
• The DLR is set to go back to normal  on August 25 (at least on the Lewisham route) , rather than there being a different set of closures.
  
• The redeveloped King's Cross may include a new footbridge to allow continued access from York Way.
  
• The Mayor has met with Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly to ask for money for the East London Line phase 2 extension.
  

What the Overground disruption is for

As I've posted about before, most of the London Overground network is going to be disrupted this autumn for engineering work. If you haven't seen it, the official leaflet about the replacement buses and changes to service is online.

But I wanted to go over what work they're doing and why, and how it will benefit passenger services. Basically, the problem is freight traffic, particularly container traffic from the ports around the coast of Essex and Suffolk. A lot of this traffic ends up going north on West Coast Main Line, and the only real way to get there is along the most congested part of the North London Line. Here's a diagram:

The current main freight route is in dark blue. Freight from the LT&S Line has to run across both pairs of tracks of the Great Eastern Main Line. Freight from both directions has to pass along the two track section of the North London Line from Stratford to Dalston Kingsland, which is also one of the busiest passenger sections.

It should be obvious from the diagram that it'd be much better to send freight from the LT&S Line along the Gospel Oak to Barking Line (shown in light blue), and that's exactly what they're trying to do. The problem that needs fixing first is that bridges and tunnels along the route aren't tall enough to allow modern containers through. During the closure three bridges over the Gospel Oak to Barking Line will be demolished, and the track in Hampstead Tunnel will be lowered.

Similar upgrades to other rail routes are planned to reduce the importance of the London Overground network to freight. Work to allow larger containers on the Felixstowe-Ely-Peterbrough-Leicester-Nuneaton will provide an alternative to the North London Line, while Southampton-Basingstoke-Reading-Oxford will provide an alternative to the West London Line.

The frequency increases on the London Overground network can only happen if freight traffic is properly managed, and these various upgrades are an important part of that.

London Overground notes

I've been forwarded a set of slides from a recent presentation given by Transport for London about London Overground. A few interesting things:

• The date for the Gospel Oak to Barking Line getting trains every 15 minutes is given as December 2008, rather than 2009 when the new larger fleet (pictured) arrives. Maybe they'll be getting the spare trains back* that they've leant to First Great Western. Or it might be a mistake.
• Work to construct Imperial Wharf station allegedly started on June 1st. Anyone seen anything yet?
• Work to fix Shepherd's Bush station is due to be completed by late summer, but they're looking strategically about when exactly to open it. Definitely by October though.
• During this autumn's closure, replacement bus services will run serving all stations Gospel Oak-Barking and Gospel Oak-Camden Road plus an oddball route running South Hampstead-West Hampstead-Brondesbury-Kilburn High Rd-South Hampstead-Hampstead Heath-Gospel Oak-Upper Holloway-Crouch Hill
• During the closure slab track will be laid in Hampstead Tunnel and road bridges carrying Sussex Way (near Upper Holloway) and Albert and Shrubland Roads (near Walthamstow Queen's Road) over the Goblin will be completely replaced.
• The rebuilding of the Camden-Dalston section of the North London Line begins in the second half of 2009, with "all week" closures happening in early 2010.

There are some similar presentation documents on the LOROL site. One of them is a lot like the one I've got except with a fraction of the detail. The other is stuffed full of dates:

• All London Overground stations are to be fully refurbished between July 2008 and November 2009, with new train displays, signage, help points, CCTV and so on.
• Former Southern stations on the East London Line extension will be refurbished between June 2009 and March 2010.
• Test running on the East London Line is due to start in Late 2009, with the core opening in April 2010 and running south of New Cross Gate from June.

* London Overground got custody of the whole of Silverlink's diesel fleet, but with no Bletchley-Bedford Line to run had more than they needed

London Overground disruption this autumn

The North London Line and the Gospel Oak to Barking Line will be shutdown for extended periods this autumn for the enlargement of Hampstead Tunnel and the GOBLIN upgrade.

I've already posted one set of possible alternative arrangements, but the latest Network Rail timetable has a different set which I've attempted to decode below.

• The North London Line will be closed between Willseden Junction and Gospel Oak from September 1st to November 16th. Replacement trains are as follows:
  • The Watford DC Line will be diverted to Stratford via Primrose Hill (i.e. Watford-South Hampstead-Camden Road-Stratford), with virtually no trains to Euston. This service runs every 20 minutes.
  • Roughly every 15 minutes there'll be a Richmond-Willesden Junction shuttle. The connections at Willesden with the Watford-Stratford service don't look great.
  • Twice an hour there'll be a Gospel Oak-Camden Road-Stratford service, at alternating 20 and 40 minute intervals.
  • On Sundays, half-hourly Watford-Euston, Richmond-Willesden, Willesden-Stratford and Gospel Oak-Highbury services will run.
  • Passengers for the closed stations between Willesden Junction and Gospel Oak are expected to use "adjacent" stations on the Willesden-Queen's Park-Camden Road route, or local buses.
• The Gospel Oak to Barking Line will be closed September 1st-28th with replacement buses running.
• The West London Line appears unaffected.

A new London Overground timetable came in last weekend (not that TfL have bothered updating their site), and the printed book has a small note on every page warning of the disruption, promising further information in August.

London Overground shutdown from September

The Network Rail closures register provides details of the North London Line and Gospel Oak-Barking closures this autumn (pages 190 and 193). As far as I can tell:

• The North London Line will be split in two from September 1st to November 16th for the enlargement of Hampstead Tunnel for container trains. The services will be Richmond-Willesden Junction and Gospel Oak-Stratford.
• For the week of September 22nd-28th, the section from Gospel Oak to Camden Road will also be closed. During this week, trains from Stratford will instead run to Willesden Junction via Queen's Park.
• From September 1st to September 28th, the Gospel Oak to Barking Line will also be closed. Major track maintenance and replacement will occur, probably not unrelated to the upgrade of the line.

Obviously this is all subject to change. Previously mentioned here.

[via Railchat]

London Overground train order number crunching

TfL have put out a short press release announcing a second expansion of the order for new trains for London Overground, a move mooted a month ago. As expected, the order is for 7 additional 4-car trains.

I'd like to say what the new total is, but the numbers don't add up. Previous indications were that the final fleet would be 54 trains, but the press release mentions the 7 as being in addition to the "44 trains" of the original order. They seem to have forgotten about the 3 extra trains they ordered last July.

The documentation for the North London Line upgrade sums up the delivery schedule thus:

• The original order, which was 24 3-car trains for the North London Line, West London Line and Watford DC Line, plus 20 4-car trains for the East London Line
• Tranche 1: Extending the 24 NLL et al trains to 4 cars.
• Tranche 2: 3 extra trains to cover ELL services from Dalston Junction to Highbury & Islington, and 3 trains for the Stratford to Camden Road shuttle, plus a maintenance spare.

Today's order corresponds to Tranche 2. Again, the 3 trains from last July have disappeared. It might just be that they mentioned in this document due to being specifically for the ELL, and additionally whoever prepared today's press release simply forgot about them, but it's all very strange.

On a related note, I've also just spotted that the draft timetable assumes the new diesel trains on the Gospel Oak to Barking Line will be 3-car, which gives some hope they'll be given third cars within the next few years. 

It also mentions  that six trains from the East London Line fleet will be stabled in Stratford overnight, which would mean some or all of the ELL fleet will be dual voltage, as the ELL is entirely third rail and the route to Stratford is AC overhead only. Previously it was thought the ELL would be built without overhead capabilities.

Going back to today's press release, it  notes that the new trains will have the "look and feel of Tube trains" and there will be "six passenger information displays inside" (per train? per carriage?), as well as previously known information about the carriage connections being walk-through (think bendy bus) and the trains having air conditioning.

The North London Line upgrade

Thanks to an anonymous commenter for pointing out that a whole load of info about the future of the North London Line has turned up on the Office of Rail Regulation website.


For one thing, they've chosen a service pattern, which I've illustrated above (the big numbers are frequency in tph, or trains per hour). The service on the North London Line are:

• 4 tph Stratford - Camden Road - Gospel Oak - Willesden Junction - Richmond (the current North London Line service)
• 2 tph Stratford - Camden Road - Gospel Oak - Willesden Junction - Clapham Junction
• 2 tph Stratford - Camden Road

That's a train every 7.5 minutes east of Camden Road. There are no trains via Primrose Hill to Queen's Park, as was once planned.

The 2 tph West London Line shuttle will continue, giving a train every 15 minutes between Clapham Junction and Willesden Junction. The Gospel Oak to Barking line stays self contained, with a 4 tph service, apparently due to the high cost of through platforms at Gospel Oak. The connections at Gospel Oak in the draft timetable don't look good. No upgrade to the Euston-Watford service is included yet.

There'll also be 8 trains per hour beyond Dalston Junction to Highbury & Islington. The diagram in the application form names them as the Crystal Palace and New Cross services, meaning the third service - from West Croydon - will only go as far as Dalston Junction.

There's a detailed diagram of the new track layout between Camden Road and Dalston, which confirms the plans for the East London Line to have a segregated route to Highbury & Islington, with little possibility of ELL trains continuing beyond there (forget about circular services). Highbury & Islington will end up with 3 eastbound platforms, each on a separate island.

Another document gives details of how stations will be refurbished, with improved CCTV, lighting, help points and PA systems. Stairs, flooring, walls, canopies and platform services will brought up to higher standards. LED next train indicators will be installed.

Construction work to rebuild the North London Line track begins this September, with the new timetable due in December 2010.

Gospel Oak to Barking plans

I attended the GOBLIN user group meeting last night to hear form the LOROL people (they pronounce it "laurel", charmingly enough). A few things were mentioned that I don't think have made it onto the internet before:

• They originally planned to obtain three car trains, but the short eastbound platform at South Tottenham nixed this
• They plan to rip out the end seat of the appalling 3+2 seating to make it 2+2 plus a wide aisle for standing. This will start as soon as they get approval that the trains can take the extra weight of standees.
• The new rolling stock will have "30% more capacity" per train. Each carriage is longer and doesn't have the big guard's area behind each cab.

London Overground GOBLIN train order formally announced

The order for new diesel trains for London Overground's Gospel Oak to Barking Line has been formally announced by Bombardier:

Bombardier Transportation has won a second order for its next generation “Green Trains”. The contract, worth approximately 44 million euros ($65 million US), is an order for twelve 2-car BOMBARDIER next generation diesel multiple units from Angel Trains. The trains are being provided for London Overground Rail Operations Limited (LOROL) for use on the London Overground network and for Chiltern Railways.

The unusual thing is the order being split with Chiltern, who London Overground's operators LOROL share a parent company with.

The press release doesn't say how the twelve trains will be split, but TfL separately mention they'll be getting eight of them. They need five or six trains in service to provide the promised 15 minute service, so eight is about right. Speaking of which, delivery of the new trains begins in Q4 2009, while the new timetable is due in December 2009. That seems a bit tight.

The trains will be owned by Angel Trains rather than TfL directly (like the electric trains are). This allows them to be easily transferred elsewhere if the GOBLIN is ever electrified.

In related news, Laing Rail is being taken over by DB, the German national railway company. Laing owns half of LOROL, and also Chiltern Railways.

[via uk.transport.london]

Pedestrian projects

A new map has just appeared on the TfL website showing the various improvements they're making to walking around the city. Mostly new pedestrian crossings and so on, but worth a look.

TfL appear to be going ahead with the Walthamstow interchange idea, which will provide an easy walking route between Walthamstow Queens Road (on the Gospel Oak to Barking line) and Walthamstow Central. They're going for the easier option of providing new street entrances at the closest corner of each station, making the route as short as possible, rather than the more expensive idea mentioned on Always Touch Out of providing a subway from Queens Road station to Selbourne Road, which would give the station easy access to the main Walthamstow shopping area, though the walk to Walthamstow Central this way would be longer.

The pedestrianisation of Cowcross Street (outside Farringdon station) is also on the map.

Update: An anonymous commenter points out Waltham Forest's own plans which include the subway scheme: "New walkway under the railway line to link this area with the Town Centre, to be connected to a new high-level platform and station building over the Queens Road station." So both schemes are potentially going to be built, as well as a major upgrade to Queens Road station.

London Overground branding details confirmed

Design Week has confirmed some of the previously discussed details about how the London Overground brand will be rolled out. There are a few glaring errors, but a few interesting bits too:

The Overground identity - including an orange and blue version of the familiar roundel - will only be fully introduced as each of a total of 60 stations is refurbished or built, and new rolling stock introduced. At first, you will just notice the absence of Silverlink branding, and a single new roundel, plus - from 9 November - the orange tramlines on the map.

As for the principal brand colour - orange - this finds its way into everything. 'It is a happy colour for us to use, has high visibility and can be applied consistently across all applications,' says Ferguson.

To avoid confusion, the various branches of the Overground system will not have subsidiary colours and line names in the way of the Tube - the idea is to have a destination-based system, like the DLR.

The 2025 map referenced at the end of the article is this one.

(thanks to Jason for sending this in)

A beginner's guide to London Overground

Hello random Googlers! You've seen this ad around town and are now wondering what the hell it's on about. Here are some answers.

What is London Overground? From November 11th, Transport for London (TfL) will be given direct control of the local trains services currently operated by Silverlink. These are:

• North London Line (Richmond to Stratford via North London)
• West London Line (Clapham Junction to Willesden Junction via Kensington Olympia)
• Gospel Oak to Barking Line (edge of Hampstead Heath to East London via Walthamstow)
• Watford DC Line (Euston to Watford Junction, partly shared with the north end of the Bakerloo)

Here's a map

What happens on November 11th? Very little. Same timetable, same trains, but you'll be able to use Oyster Pay As You Go across the network, and the lines will be added to the standard tube map. TfL plan to put staff on all stations at all times they're open, though some may just be security guards. Branding in the early days will be minimal.

When can I expect improvements to the service? From December 9th, the timetables will improve slightly, with longer operating hours and the odd extra train. The next major improvement comes in December 2009, when the Gospel Oak to Barking service doubles to every 15 minutes. The North London Line service frequency is due to double on some sections by 2011, when trains will be extended to four cars. Some improvements are due in the intervening years, but details are hazy.

Are we getting new trains? Yes. All trains will be replaced with brand new ones in the next couple of years. The first will be delivered around a year from now. They'll have seating along the sides, like tube trains, to give more space to stand. The new trains on the Gospel Oak to Barking Line will still be diesel.

Are the stations being upgraded? Yes. This will start with a "deep clean" within the next six months, followed by a fairly ambitious program of rebuilding and upgrading over the next 4 years. Several stations will have ticket barriers installed.

Are any new stations planned? A new station has been built at Shepherd's Bush, but it's opening date has been postponed indefinitely by a construction cockup. Another new station at Imperial Wharf in Chelsea was once a certainty, but due to spiralling costs is looking increasingly doubtful. The disused Primrose Hill station may one day be reopened. That's it.

Will Overground be part of the tube? No. It'll appear on the tube map, but will still be an ordinary timetabled train service. Think of it as a train company run by Transport for London, which it more or less is.

What about the East London Line? The tube's East London Line will close just before Christmas. When it reopens in 2010 it'll be part of Overground, and will have been extended north along a disused viaduct, with new stations at Shoreditch High Street, Haggerston, Hoxton and Dalston Junction. Trains will also continue further south than New Cross, using the existing railway lines to reach Crystal Palace and West Croydon. Here's a brochure with more details.

For more info check the blog archives and the Wikipedia page. Don't bother with the TfL page.

TfL October board meeting notes

Transport for London held a board meeting on Wednesday, and today they published the stack of documents (5 MB PDF) produced for it. A skim through the 286 pages reveals:

Oyster

• On October 7, TfL began replacing the now-redundant push-button Few Fare Machines with Advanced Fare Machines, which do Oyster, but don't do change. 100 are planned by January, and the full 350 by April.
• TfL's rollout of Oyster to Overground faced problems at Clapham Junction, because South West Trains are meant to be selling ITSO rather than Oyster cards. TfL ticket machines will be installed at each entrance.
• Barclaycard expect to issue 75,000 OnePulse Oyster cards by the end of the year.
• Cash fares are down to 3.5% of tube journeys and 2.3% of bus journeys.
• All the train companies have finally signed an agreement for Oyster PAYG use, which includes details of how fares money will be distributed. The Financial Services Authority have confirmed the scheme doesn't fall under e-money regulations.
• It's stated "C2C, ‘one’ and First Capital Connect" will be expanding PAYG from this January, but I think they mean Chiltern rather than FCC (see this blog's sidebar).

London Overground

• The upgrade plans for the North London Line are due to be agreed with Network Rail this month, for delivery in 2010-11. This presumably includes resignalling, 3 and 4 tracking in places and platform extensions for 4 car trains. The associated improvement in service is called "SLC2k" and is due in January 2011.
• The superstructure design for the "bridge at Liverpool Street" has been approved. I'm not sure if refers to the one over the Liverpool Street tracks by Brick Lane, or the one nearer Liverpool Street station over Shoreditch High Street.
• The 3 extra Overground trains ordered in July are said to be dual voltage and intended for the North London Line, rather than for the East London Line as stated at the time. I'm not sure which is correct.
• Stations on the Gospel Oak to Barking line will get shelters by March 2008, and initial repairs at all Overground stations will be completed by May. The full upgrade programme will run until November 2011, however.

Tube, DLR, Rail and Trams

• Approval has been given to apply for the Victoria and Archway station upgrade Transport & Works orders.
• Automatic Train Operation on the Jubilee Line is due by the end of 2009, and on the Northern by the end of 2011.
• The first new Victoria Line train is due in service by January 2009.
• Southfields, Baker Street (SSL only) and Green Park will be made step-free in time for the Olympics.
• The DLR City Airport extension is carrying 48% of the airport's passengers.
• The first new design DLR car is scheduled to be delivered on 14 December this year, a bit behind schedule. It's already running on a test track in Germany.
• Train and platform lengthening are planned for many London National Rail lines (details are in the minutes).
• TfL has now officially disbanded the West London Tram team, and appear not to be leaving open the possibility of restarting the scheme.
• Funding for the Crystal Palace Tramlink extension appears hazy.

London Overground branding info

This message board post reports back on a London Overground talk given last night at the London Transport Museum. Highlights include:

• Shepherd's Bush station won't open until November 11
• Existing stations are to be completely rebuilt. Before then, no obvious Overground branding. Afterwards, full tube-style roundels
• Similarly, the existing trains won't receive the Overground livery.
• The new Electrostars will have some sort of walk-through connections between carriages, though details are hazy

In related news, the first Electrostar went into production this week.

Gospel Oak to Barking improvement details

The Barking - Gospel Oak Line User Group has some interesting information on the London Overground-related improvements planned for the line. Highlights:

• The new trains to be introduced in 2009 are Class 172 Turbostars. These are the same as are being ordered by London Midland, and presumably TfL saw an oppurtunity to get in on the order. Unlike current Turbostars, they use the lightweight bogies currently seen on Virgin Voyagers, and the lower weight gives improved acceleration away from stations. Each carriage is 23m long, vs 20m for the current Sprinters.
• Four trains per hour from December 2009, though whether any will run beyond Gospel Oak isn't mentioned.
• All stations staffed, and ticket machines at every entrance.