Network Rail has confirmed its revised delivery schedule for completing electrification of the Gospel Oak-Barking Line.
NR’s original timetable was knocked off-course earlier this year, after it failed to install all overhead line equipment during a phased eight-month closure of the route that ended on February 27.
Electrification must be completed by spring 2018, when new four-car Class 710 electric multiple units are scheduled to be introduced. Weekend closures will therefore now take place between July 29 and September 10 for outstanding work. Rail replacement buses will run at these times, and regular users of the line will receive automatic refunds on the additional cost of travelling by alternative means (including the Tube).
NR’s interim Anglian Route Managing Director Meliha Duymaz said: “This project has not been without its difficulties. We’d like to apologise for the continued disruption and thank both passengers and neighbours for their continued patience while we finish our work.”
Geoff Armand Louis Demprunt - 27/07/2017 08:34
It's refreshing to see such an open and frank approach to the delay. The trains were never going to be delivered before January , so apart from the added cost and inconvenience, the project remains on course. The following interrelated issues arise:- 1. The Barking Riverside Project is funded and they are ordering trains for the line. Will those trains be built whilst the production line is set? Thus saving money towards an additional unit 2. These trains could be introduced into the regular timetable, in May 2018, providing a 1/2 hourly peak time service ( 7-10am- 4-7pm) between Kensal Rise Sidings and Blackhorse Road Station, if an additional unit were purchased as well, from one of the budgets, it could be Kensal to Woodgrange Park. The trains need only stop at Gospel Oak , on the way to Kensal. The Freight paths just need to be out of peak. Blackhorse would need a crossover until the station is rebuilt to reflect the huge increase in passengers. 3. Junction Road Station could benefit from separate funding sources , such as the one that reopened Lea Bridge Station and the main structural work undertaken during the 2 month closure. Make an Application? 4. The current furore concerning Crossrail 2 leaves me wondering why the full potential of this line is not being utilised. Connections to South West London exist through Thameslink at Kentish Town and there's space to reinstate the 2 platforms there and restore the link from Upper Holloway. 5. What is stopping this line being re signalled and made into a 3 minute Metro between Gospel Oak- Willesden Junction providing the service Blackhorse to Clapham Junction originally proposed in 1974. 6. It's clear that the Lea Valley Line will be 4 tracked, why not open a Station opposite the Ferry Boat in, on the old Thanes Water site with an entrance on the ground west of the Bridge and a subway from Tottenham Hale. 7. Can the Harringey Curve be twin tracked and provide an opportunity to run trains to Kentish Town from New Southgate? Geoff Demprunt