Barking Riverside railway station


Barking Riverside is an under construction railway station in Barking in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, east London, that will serve the Barking Riverside regeneration area including housing, leisure and shopping facilities. It is planned as part of an £260m extension of the Gospel Oak to Barking Line on the London Overground network.
The extension will run partly over the existing London, Tilbury and Southend Railway line from, operated by c2c, and over of new track to be laid to the new station. It is expected that Barking Riverside station will open in December 2021.
There have also been calls to extend the line further south across the river to Thamesmead and Abbey Wood. In August 2017, the Government granted permission for the extension and a future provision for a stop at and states that a further extension across the Thames should be provisioned.

History

The Barking Riverside development is a brownfield site of some 440 acres, on the site of the former Barking Power Station. The site has planning permission for around 10,800 homes, however planning restrictions prevent more than 1,200 homes without adequate transport links.
An extension of the Docklands Light Railway to Dagenham Dock was proposed in the mid 2000s at a cost of around £750m, however this extension was cancelled in 2008 by then Mayor of London Boris Johnson. Following this, Transport for London assessed various options to bring transport links to Barking Riverside, including the previously proposed DLR extension, extension of the Hammersmith & City line to Grays, new segregated, high frequency bus services and a new station at Renwick Road.
Following a decision to extend the Gospel Oak to Barking line to the area in 2014, the proposed route were consulted on in 2014, 2015 and 2016. Following this, a Transport and Works Act Order for the extension and new station was submitted in March 2016. As part of this process, a public inquiry was held in October 2016. The Transport and Works Order was approved in August 2017.

Route

Leaving Barking station towards the south east, the extension of the Gospel Oak to Barking line will follow the London, Tilbury and Southend line for around 2.4km. Passing underneath Renwick Road, a future station at Renwick Road has been passively safeguarded. The extension then turns south, crossing the main line and the Ripple Lane freight yard on a viaduct, as well as crossing over the High Speed 1 tunnels. The viaduct then continues south for 1.5km to the elevated station at Barking Riverside.
While the station will be owned by Transport for London, the railway infrastructure will be handed over to Network Rail when completed.

Construction

Following approval of the Transport and Works Order in August 2017, construction on the extension by a joint venture of Morgan Sindall and VolkerFitzpatrick began in late 2018. Construction is expected to take 3 years at a cost of £260m, with the new station opening in December 2021. The station building will be designed by architects Weston Williamson.