Barking Riverside rail extension opening paves way for 10,000 new homes

Transport for London‘s Barking Riverside rail extension is to open this week, months ahead of schedule. The route opens up access to the 10,000 planned new homes at Barking Riverside and will dramatically reduce public transport journey times to Barking town centre from half an hour to just seven minutes.

The new 4.5km stretch of railway is the first extension of the London Overground since 2015.

Constructed by the MSVF joint venture of Morgan Sindall Construction & Infrastructure and VolkerFitzpatrick, the new step-free station will operate four trains per hour, providing Barking Riverside with connections to the District and Hammersmith & City lines into central London and C2C trains at Barking.

The station enables easy interchange with local bus and river bus services and has extensive cycle parking facilities helping to promote greener and more sustainable journeys by making it easier for people to start or end their journeys by cycle.

Seb Dance, London’s Deputy Mayor for Transport said, “Hot on the heels of the opening of the Elizabeth Line, this is more excellent news for east London. This new station will help to pave the way for up to 10,000 new homes in Barking Riverside, thousands of which will be genuinely affordable and will ensure residents have the high-quality transport links they need.”

The Barking Riverside masterplan includes a new school, healthcare facilities and a new district centre with commercial and leisure facilities, high-quality public spaces and connections to walking and cycling routes.