London Overground: From the Beginning

7 successful years. 

65 state-of-the-art trains.

 3 average depots. 

I know it's a bit late, but we'd like to wish our viewers a Happy New Year!

Before we start, a map of all London Overground services in 2015 can be seen here.

And there's still room for expansion. If you haven't clocked it yet, we're going to take a deep look at the successful rail network that is London Slowerground Overground!

2007 saw the start of a new TfL network known officially as London Overground with it's distinctive orange and blue roundel, a new colour different to the normal red and blue Londoners were used to seeing. It was also a new, cheaper (and potentially quicker) way to travel across London, as London Overground does not travel through zone 1 with the exception of two or three stations.

Most lines operated by London Overground are not new, but have been taken over from predecessor Silverlink Metro, which is now defunct. However new stations have been built for London Overground and existing stations were deep cleaned and refurbished. Transport for London (TfL) chose these lines, along with other reasons, as they were mostly above ground (to match it's identity) and also to aid the reliability of the Silverlink Metro, which had been generally poor. Trains were unreliable and late, partially because the only base for these trains on the network was at Willesden Junction TMD however not all trains could be stored here overnight as there was not enough capacity so every night EMUs ran up and down the West Coast Main Line (WCML) to find themselves resting all the way at Bletchley TMD, which was far off the network. 

London Overground 378 231 on the service Stratford - Richmond at South Acton.

Transport for London (TfL) saw this as an opportunity to buy out these lines, and Willesden Junction TMD. To solve the problem of the long dead run to and from Bletchley, it was decided that the London Underground East London Line was to cease operation in December 2006 so the whole network could be re-done again and that the line would be incorporated into the London Overground network, being extended from a now-defunct Shoreditch station to Dalston, then to Highbury & Islington. New Cross depot, where East London Line trains were kept shift operation to the London Overground network so trains could be stored there too. 

Transport for London inherited a fleet of 31 3-car class 313 trains, which were used on the electrified Watford DC and North London lines. To top this number three  3-car class 508s, all which have been scrapped now, were also bought and were operated from Willesden Junction TMD. There were also 8 2-car Class 150 Sprinters which are now at First Great Western being used for the non-electrified Gospel Oak - Barking line. 

None of the trains London Overground inherited were painted into TfL colours, instead the Silverlink branding was replaced by 'London Overground' banners and all trains retained their purple and green Silverlink livery. Service started under the London Overground branding on the 12th November 2007.

Stations across the network were being deep-cleaned as Transport for London took over. Brighter lighting was installed, better signage put in place, stations were re-painted into London Overground colours - white, blue and orange and more security measures were installed.

Meanwhile, on the now shut East London Line, a major project was taking place. Shoreditch station was closed down permanently and ceased all operations. The station, situated on Brick Lane E1 was then sold at an auction (the station building only).

At Whitechapel, new track was laid to connect to former Broad Street viaduct. A new station was built to replace Shoreditch, called Shoreditch High Street which is a short walk away from the popular Spitalfields Market. The viaduct was re-done and a brand new viaduct was put in place for the new Shoreditch High Street station, in white and orange.

Haggerston station was re-opened when the London Overground opened, and a new station in the small town of Hoxton saw new beginnings too. Dalston Junction was amongst those to be re-instated, although the old station was above ground, the current station is underground (if I'm correct) which the East London Line defeats the purpose of London Overground. Walking back down the line sees us reaching Shadwell, an interchange for the driverless Docklands Light Railway. A built up area of Tower Hamlets, and backs the entrance to the Docklands. By now, London Overground is boring through tunnels again all the way until Surrey Quays. Between Wapping and Rotherhithe, the London Overground uses the Rotherhithe Thames Tunnel constructed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the engineer of his day. Originally a tunnel for people on foot and those who wanted to travel by horse in the early 1800s, the tunnel was then purchased by the East London Railway Company in 1865. Eventually, the railway formed the East London Line, first under London Underground and now under an expanded London Overground network.

Skipping to Surrey Quays, this was the last station where the East London Line was as one before it splitted into two separate branches, both of which had one station. Both stations are roughly 5 minutes away from each other - New Cross and New Cross Gate, where they called the line's end. All trains on the East London Line are kept at New Cross, however, as the 5-car train upgrade commences - of which 378 135 has already been done, there isn't be enough room to accommodate all trains and so the new Silwood triangle was built in 2013 to stable trains overnight.

London Overground has ever since kept New Cross as one of its termini, although trains have now been extended from New Cross Gate into the true depths of South London, passing through hotspots such as Croydon, Norwood and Crystal Palace. December 9th 2012 also saw from Surrey Quays London Overground going west to Clapham Junction resulting in TfL completing a full orbital railway going from Clapham Junction to Clapham Junction via Willesden Junction, Highbury & Islington and Surrey Quays.

A lot of people have found it confusing, or have always wandered about which route is faster from Highbury & Islington to Clapham Junction. To answer bemused minds, it turns out they are roughly the same time, although can differ by about 2-3 minutes during rush hour. So it's really down to the traveler which way they think sounds more interesting for their journey.

Class 172 Turbostar:

172 008 at Barking working a London Overground service to Gospel Oak.
©Lewis Nagle

Going to Willesden TMD, who had class 150s and 313s for their newly-taken-over services from Silverlink, they had placed an order for two brand new train classes. The first was to replace the class 150s and allow them to flee to (amazing) company First Great Western, this was the class 172/0 Turbostar. Eight units were purchased to run the Gospel Oak - Barking Line, however a quick problem occured: They were only two cars long. For such a busy line running as a 4-an-hour service, this caused major problems of overcrowded trains.

TfL tried strategies to overcome the problem. The first was to order more Turbostar units to increase capacity on the line, however freight trains frequently use the line which meant the every 15 minute frequency was as high as it could go for the time being. The second strategy was to increase the length of the existing trains to be 3-cars long. However, some stations currently have short platforms and that became an obstacle. The third strategy was to introduce frequent short workings between South Tottenham and Barking - however this was blocked for the same reasons as the former strategy, because the line couldn't have too many trains at a time, and also there wasn't enough rolling stock to run the line in that scenario as well.

On the other hand, the trains did receive praise from engineers, drivers, passengers and enthusiasts alike! They did like the fact that the trains were quiet for a DMU, as they had a Cummins engine (that explains why they sound a bit like an Enviro 200) and comfortable when there wasn't crowds. Their high back cushioned seats and on-board announcements allowed for comfort during one's journey.

Class 378 Capitalstar:  
The face of London Overground and also a unique model to the Overground network exclusively, 2 batches of these trains were ordered. The first batch, which entered service in 2009 were the 378/0s. Built to be fully air-conditioned, walkthrough carriageways, longitudinal seating arrangements and tailored to fit all this in 3 carriages, the first unit was delivered to Willesden TMD and entered service on the North London Line. More and more units were delivered to replace the class 313 rolling stock on London Overground until all trains were delivered. The three class 508s also left Willesden TMD and were later sent to scrap in 2012, as I might have mentioned above (at this point I actually can't remember). 

Personally, I love travelling on London Overground during the summer. When it's really warm and the sun lays there beaming it's rays on your head, I prefer to take London Overground when possible as the air-conditioning units on these trains is probably one of the best that I've come across so far, as the train is cold (in the good sense), even if the sun through the window tries to heat you up.

Back to other features, aesthetics and history of the Capitalstar, the trains have auto-announcements using a GPS system. All recordings are done by Emma Higgnett, a familiar voice from our Red London Buses. In 2011, all class 378s were upgraded to have 4-cars as the new network proved a popular (alternative) route for commuters, tourists and other passengers alike. The class 378/0s were renumbered to have class 378/2 fleetcodes. 

In 2013, passenger usage on London Overground increased and so TfL purchased 57 new trailer carriages for their class 378 vehicles to be delivered by the end of 2015, with deliveries starting in November 2014 to make all 378 5-cars long. Works were done at several stations, for example Caledonian Road & Barnsbury where platforms were extended to fit the new trains. In November 2014, after large amounts of testing, the first 5-car London Overground train was put into passenger operation, from New Cross Depot. Unit 378135 hit the rails on the East London line, and the second carriage of the train carries a special livery with tears over it as if it was a present, saying 'This is one of 57 carriages we are getting' or something like that. Most trains on the Overground are 4-car, but all 5-car trains are to be in service by the end of 2015. 

A relatively new class 378 train (378 227) arrives into Shepherd's Bush in Summer 2014.

What else happened on London Overground? At the same time as the class 378 trains were being delivered, two brand new stations opened up in 2008-2009. The first one was the well-known Shepherd's Bush Railway Station, which opened up to make access to and from the then-brand-new Westfield Shopping Centre in White City more accessible. It was also opened to give interchange to the large amount of buses in the Shepherd's Bush Green area and also to London Underground Central Line, whose station is just across the road (interchange is available through street level). The second of these two stations was Imperial Wharf in 2009, which was suppose to give better transport connections to the area of Chelsea Harbour as their were poor links in the area, with most residents relying on the busy C3 route. 

You may remember from earlier on in the post that we were talking about the former East London Line. Well, after long re-construction, the line re-opened in 2010 with services to and from Dalston Junction. A short while later saw the opening of the Dalston Junction - Highbury & Islington. The line opened with brand new class 378/1 3-car units all which were stabled at New Cross depot. Trains originally ran from Dalston Junction to New Cross, and from Dalston Junction to West Croydon and Crystal Palace. The 'short while later' phrase just a few words back referred to Dalston Junction to Highbury & Islington section of the line opened in 2011. 

Services in 2012 were then also incorporated to have journeys to and from Clapham Junction. A new section of track was made to connect the East London Line to the South London Line with a proposed new station to be opened as well - Surrey Canal Road. The local residents and council have pushed for this station to open, with a possibility of it being opened by 2020. The opening of the new line created an orbital London railway around the inner suburbs of the city using the West London Line, the North London Line, the East London Line and South London Line connected together.

It's not on our interactive London Overground map in this post, and some enthusiasts know about this 'secret' which the average London Overground commuter doesn't know. Every morning, and every night a parliamentary London Overground service runs between Battersea Park and Highbury & Islington using track to Wandsworth Road, and then all normal stations to Highbury & Islington. The train leaves Battersea Park at 06:18 and arrives back at Battersea Park at 22:17 the same day. In addition, another parliamentry London Overground service runs to Clapham High Street from Battersea Park. 

Line up of trains at Chingford Sidings.

Now London Overground reaches a new stage 8 years on. After being voted 6th best railway company in the UK, TfL have invested money to take over some services from Abellio Greater Anglia to incorporate into the London Overground network. Services from London Liverpool Street to Enfield Town, Chingford and Cheshunt (via Seven Sisters) will be incorporated into the London Overground network. All trains will be kept at Ilford depot alongside Crossrail trains or they will be kept at the sidings at Chingford station.


At the moment it's being confirmed that class 315 units will be used for all the London Overground services including Crossrail, however there is a small possibility that a few class 317s might be transferred. In addition to the Shenfield Metro and Lea Valley Lines being taken over by TfL, the Romford-Upminster branch line will also be taken over (randomly) and will be operated by London Overground (also a bit random, it should just be a Crossrail branch line or it should have gone to c2c who in my personal preference do a much better job than Abellio). These new services by London Overground and also Crossrail commence on the 31st May 2015.

To liven things up, it's also a possibility that London Overground may be seeing a new breed of trains. At the same time TfL announced that they were to take over parts of the Greater Anglia fanchise, they opened up a competition for train manufacturers to take part in. They specified that the train design had to be different, and that the manufacturer could build a minimum of 4-car per trains, and they had to be EMUs. 30 will be built, and will be shared as:
5 trains for the Chingford - London Liverpool Street service.
6 trains for the Enfield Town - London Liverpool Street service.
6 trains for the Cheshunt - London Liverpool Street service.
1 train for the Romford - Upminster 'Push & Pull' service.
8 trains for the Gospel Oak - Barking Line service which should be electrified soon.

This excludes spares. Spares would be:
1 train for the Chingford - London Liverpool Street service.
2 trains for the Enfield Town - London Liverpool Street service.
1 train for the Cheshunt - London Liverpool Street service.
1 train for the Gospel Oak - Barking service.

So 2015 calls new beginnings for London Overground. What do you think of the plans? Do you think London Overground is successful or could be improved? Share your thoughts in the comments section below. 

Happy Birthday to The West London Bus Blog, and this is just the start of our two-year celebrations. We're two years old on the 19th January 2015.

Stay safe!