Opening of Tube extension to Croydon comes a step closer
By Ian Austen
ian.austen@essnmedia.co.uk
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LINE EXTENSION: The Tube is coming to West Croydon
The extension of the Tube to Croydon will come one step closer when the line's construction site is handed over to Transport for London (TfL) this weekend.
Major building work on the East London Line, which will link West Croydon to the network, has now been completed and the extension is on schedule to be opened by June.
TfL will now begin to train around 400 staff, install ticket machines in stations and run tests to ensure that the service is running smoothly by the time it opens to the public.
Croydon has been linked onto the line along existing National Rail tracks and a new track has been laid in north London.
Around 27.5 million passenger journeys are expected on the line in the first year, with four trains stopping in Croydon every hour.
Commuters will be able to travel from West Croydon to Canada Water in just 28 minutes, to Shoreditch in 37 minutes and to Dalston Junction in 43 minutes.
Although most of the building work has been completed, construction companies Balfour Beatty and Carillion will still be working on the site to complete the final touches.
A TfL spokesman said: "For Croydonites, the East London Line will be part of the wider London Overground network orbiting the capital. It will provide fast, reliable and frequent connection to London's wider transport network.
"All major work on the East London Line has been completed as contracted. Work continues, as it will do after handover, to finish off station concourses and the like, which does not interfere with driver training and trial operations."
10 Comments
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by Nick, Coulsdon
Tuesday, January 26 2010, 2:49PM
“Just 37 minutes to Shoreditch. I can't wait. What an improvement.
A further improvement would be a through service to somewhere useful, like Charing Cross, and maybe a few fast rush hour trains to London Bridge for those in Sydenham and Forest Hill. But that would mean getting rid of trains to such handy places as Dalston where everybody clearly wants to go. It says here.
Am I missing something, or is this just a vanity project for the boroughs along the line, so they can pretend they're on the "tube," and so that estate agents can con their more naive clients?”
by Melanie Macleod, Brockley
Tuesday, January 26 2010, 2:35PM
“hello,
My name is Melanie Macleod, I am currently working as a journalist on the East London Lines website, a news site covering Croydon as a main area of interest. At present I am writing an article about the people of Croydon and their concerns about the "tube" arriving. The comments on this article will be very useful, and I am wondering if any of the posters would contact me for further discussion of the matter? If anyone would like to talk about this with me, my email address is melaniemacleod500@hotmail.com if you could email me your contact details i'd love to hear from you!!
Thanks,
Melanie”
by tryme, croydon
Monday, January 25 2010, 4:27PM
“london road is a really rough and bad area, they are wasting their time and money because all the trouble will just be growing and growing and there will be more chances for muggers and that sort to get away easier and also to get more targets to bother.”
by The3rd, Croydon
Monday, January 25 2010, 9:06AM
“I agree with many of the poster below.
The area is in need of a huge make over. A proper police prescence for a start is needed. The amount of down and outs hanging around the train station puts a lot of people off from venturing into that part of Croydon.
I prefer Croydonites. Croydonian is very last 1900s.”
by Lipsyla, Croydump
Sunday, January 24 2010, 3:07PM
“As someone who travels from West Croydon to Canary Wharf every day..... What a complete waste of time & money.
The original East London line just needed updating & it wasn't the end of the world changing at New Cross Gate to get on the ELL... Basically the service won't be any better than it was before the ELL was closed.
Hopefully the current rail services to London Bridge, stopping at New Cross Gate, will not be affected the extra trains on the line, just to justify the existence of the new 'service'.”