O is for (London) Overground

15th July 2023

It’s a true ‘rags to riches’ story. What at one time were run down unloved, and in some cases unknown, obscure railway lines skirting around London’s suburbs with ageing, unreliable rolling stock serving uncared for stations susceptible to vandalism and graffiti, have been transformed into an attractive cohesive “joined up” (literally) railway that’s become part of London’s strategic public transport offer and proving so popular that frequencies have been increased and trains extended in length to cope with the growth in numbers travelling.

It’s the London Overground.

And is truly worthy of that slogan beloved of PR people “transforming travel”. It certainly has done that.

OK, I’m cheating a little by featuring it in this A to Z of bus and train companies as Overground is not a company as such but the brand name for a concession currently let to Arriva Rail London by Transport for London (and just granted a two year extension to May 2026). TfL keeps 90% of the revenue (10% goes to the operator) and oversees operational standards. But it’s such a success story I couldn’t resist featuring it in this series.

This isn’t going to be a historic account of how the Overground developed from its constituent parts – there are a number of authoritative books on the subject, not least John Glover’s 2012 London’s Overground from Ian Allan Publishing, but to observe the network has its origins in both former Underground lines (the East London – former Metropolitan lines through Brunel’s Thames Tunnel) and National Rail lines comprising the West, North and South London lines as well as the GOBLIN and Euston to Watford lines and, more recently, the lines out of Liverpool Street to Enfield Town, Cheshunt and Chingford, while not forgetting the Upminster to Romford shuttle.

The Overground network was officially launched by Mayor Livingstone in November 2007 and has a foot in both the TfL camp – the roundel, orange branding and communications reaffirm this – but also very much part of the National Rail network. Although stations don’t display the ‘double arrow’ National Rail (former British Rail) symbol unless trains on another National Rail line calls there, ticket acceptance and conditions are to National Rail standards including, for example, the All Line Rover ticket being valid, and the ability to buy a ticket from any station to another station on the national network.

Indeed when I last visited Emerson Park on the quirky single track Upminster to Romford line shortly after new ticket machines had been installed I found that, unlike at most National Rail stations, the machines would actually sell you an All Line Rover ticket (coded as Freedom of Britain).

However, I doubt many passengers buy the 14-day first class All Line Rover for £1,323 from the machine.

What the Overground has demonstrated very clearly is the significant demand for travel around London rather than through it. Trains on the West London line arrive into and leave Clapham Junction with full seated loads and standing even during the off peak and it was interesting on the day I recently spent riding around the network how the train emptied out (comparatively) at Shepherds Bush (three stations north) for the Westfield shopping centre only to gradually fill up again as it headed around north London with standing room only by the time we reached Stratford (where there’s another Westfield shopping centre).

That line sees a combined frequency from Willesden Junction – with trains joining from Richmond – to Stratford of 10 trains an hour in the peak and eight in the off peak which is a vast improvement on the pre-Overground days and shows how frequency can also encourage travel because of the convenience of “turn up and go”.

Over on the East London lines another combination of trains from four destinations – Clapham Junction (via the South London line), West Croydon, Crystal Palace and New Cross gives an even more impressive 16 trains an hour with half terminating at Dalston Junction and half continuing around the curve to Highbury & Islington.

This gives 26 trains an hour in the peak (24 off-peak) for the short common four track section of track between Highbury & Islington and Canonbury making it possibly the highest frequency section of track on the National Rail network.

At the other extreme there’s the half hourly service on the Upminster to Romford shuttle while both Enfield Town and Cheshunt have half hourly services combining at Edmonton Green to a 15 minute service and meeting up with the 15 minute Chingford service at Hackney Downs to provide eight trains an hour supplemented by Greater Anglia’s half hourly service to and from Hertford East into Liverpool Street. During peak hours the Enfield Town service increases to every 15 minutes.

Hackney Downs was linked directly to Hackney Central on the North London line in 2015 with the opening of a 210 metre ling elevated walkway between the two stations for passengers…

… but there’s no physical link between the tracks as the former line passes over the latter. Before this link opened passengers making a connection had to leave one station and take a five minute walk around to the other.

The two other lines – Watford Junction to Euston and Gospel Oak to Barking Riverside both operate a 15 minute service. The latter gained an extension from its previous eastern terminus at Barking to the new Barking Riverside station last year in readiness for the huge housing development there.

This is one of a number of developments on the network during the last 16 years with others notably being the transition of the South London line from Southern to Overground in 2012 and the Liverpool Street lines joining the network in 2015.

Two classes of train run Overground services. Class 378 built by Bombardier have been the mainstay since introduced in 2009 having replaced the old Class 313 and 508 units. Some were delivered and initially ran as 3-coach units but once platforms were extended they, and others as delivered, were extended to 4 coach trains and then all were extended to 5-coach.

In the mid 2010s TfL ordered a fleet of 45 (subsequently increased to 54) Class 710 units for use on the newly electrified Gospel Oak line, the inherited Liverpool Street lines, Upminster/Romford and the Watford line.

Trains are maintained at Willesden Junction and New Cross Gate.

Trains all have a longitudinal seat arrangement to maximise standing space. Unfortunately this doesn’t lend itself to gazing out of the windows to spot the sights as you circumnavigate London, but it is a practical use of space on these intensely used trains.

The latest Class 701 trains come with a few usb sockets in the connecting sections between the coaches.

Clapham Junction was modified some time ago to accommodate the South London line where trains depart from platform 2 alongside platform 1 for the West London line and which was effectively split into two to provide the room.

There are a couple of quirky train movements on the network in early mornings and late evenings. One is the use of Battersea Park station instead of Clapham Junction as a terminus on the South London line. This maintains driver knowledge of an alternative turn back in case Clapham Junction becomes temporarily unavailable and also keeps a train running on a piece of track Southern trains used to use when they headed towards Victoria on the line – Parliamentary trains and all that nonsense.

If you fancy an early morning or late evening quirky train ride, departures from Battersea Park are currently at 06:33 and 23:03 on Mondays to Fridays to Dalston Junction the latter having arrived from Dalston Junction where it left at 22:04 and a departure on Sunday mornings at 07:47.

The other is a couple of trains which use the lower bay platform at Willesden Junction rather than the upper level ‘through platforms’ with departures at 05:51 Mondays to Fridays (09;47 Saturdays and 09:02 Sundays) with a few late evening arrivals too.

Coincidentally due to engineering works Overground trains are using this lower bay terminating platform all this weekend as well as taking an unusual routing between Camden Road and South Hampstead via the former Primrose Hill station.

Battersea Park doesn’t appear on the line and network diagrams which are displayed at various points including inside the trains.

These diagrams used to be difficult to follow due to the way the network was displayed but the latest version, and since the Liverpool Street lines have joined the club, is much better now it’s orientated the right way up whereas previously it used to be on its side with no sense of which way north was pointing.

It’s also interesting to see the network portrayed on the in-car maps of Central London in Underground trains on which you can clearly see Overground’s orbital nature in the north, south, east and most of west explaining why it’s become so popular.

Each line also has a proper timetable displayed so you can easily see when trains are scheduled, even though they’re every few minutes during most of the day.

TfL are about to embark on a consultation seeking appropriate names to be given to each of the distinct lines which make up the network. This follows a manifesto commitment by Mayor Khan and it’s inevitable the results will be controversial.

One upside will be the ability to specify which part of the network is suffering delays rather than the current all encompassing “Overground – major disruption” messages currently available on in-car signs and at stations on “rainbow boards”. However, I spotted this has already happened at a sign displayed at the Overground platform at Walthamstow Central on my tour round the network.

While travelling I noticed the in-car next stations sign is a bit misleading to those who don’t know their London geography by not including a dotted line between the last two stations displayed. A stranger would be forgiven at South Tottenham for thinking after Walthamstow Queen’s Road comes Barking Riverside as the next station…

… only to see that isn’t the case when the train reaches Walthamstow Queens Road.

Other quirks of the network include the mix of overhead and third rail electric power on a north/south divide (the exception being Watford Junction to Euston) with some trains able to switch between the two as needed.

It has one of London’s few pedestrian foot crossings across the tracks in Lincoln Road, Bush Hill Park on the Enfield Town branch which is manually controlled by a member of staff who locks the gates when a train passes by – the crossing at one time used to be for vehicles too.

Overground trains run over some of the newest tracks in London to Barking Riverside as well as passing through the historic Thames Tunnel with stations such as Wapping having very narrow platforms, spiral staircases and limited platform lengths necessitating selective door opening to and from the five coach trains.

At Whitechapel the Overground famously passes underneath the Underground (District and Hammersmith & City lines)…

… while at Gospel Oak there’s a connection between the GOBLIN line and the North London line, but only by avoiding the platform at Gospel Oak.

Along with its fellow self contained network Merseyrail, the London Overground is definitely an intensively used urban rail success story.

Roger French

Previous AtoZ blogs: Avanti West Coast, Blackpool Transport, Chiltern Railways, Delaine Buses, Ensignbus, Faresaver, Grand Central, Hull Trains, Ipswich Buses, JMB Travel, Kirkby Lonsdale Coach Hire, Lynx, Isle of Man Transport Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Nottingham City Transport.

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