A brand new ‘London Overground' service, linking Islington directly with the East End, will pull into Highbury & Islington station in 2010.
Emily Thornberry and Jeremy Corbyn, the two MPs for Islington, are today celebrating their successful lobbying of Transport for London (TfL), with this week's announcement that the East London line extension, currently under construction, will now terminate in Islington.
The East London line currently terminates at Shoreditch. TfL had originally planned to extend the line through Shoreditch and Hoxton to a new terminus at Dalston Junction in Hackney. This week, however, TfL agreed to include Islington stations Canonbury and Highbury & Islington in the new extension.
Jeremy Corbyn, who has raised the matter since the East London line extension was first mooted, said:
"I welcome Ken Livingstone's preparedness to listen to our representations and extend the line to Islington. I still want the possibility of trains running directly to Finsbury Park, and with the southern end linking up with Clapham Junction. I shall also be making representations to the Mayor that TfL should run the service itself and not hand them over to a franchisee. This however is good news for Islington because it means we will become part of the East London line. I am very pleased."
Emily Thornberry, who also met with TfL bosses earlier this year to make the case for including extending the line to Canonbury and Highbury & Islington, said:
"This is fantastic news. We'll have this new link in just 4 years, which means people from Islington will be able to get directly to the East End using the train. I'm also pleased that the new London Overground system will mean more staff and greater security at mainline stations to make people feel safer"
The ‘London Overground' network will be launched in November 2007 on the North London Line. This will mean greater security at stations through extra staff and more CCTV, as well as making it possible to travel using Oyster pay-as-you-go. When the East London line extension is completed in 2010, it will also become integrated with the London Overground system.
Editors notes:
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The East London Line runs between Whitechapel (formerly Shoreditch) and New Cross / New Cross Gate. The Mayor made a commitment on 5 September that Phase 1 of the East London Line extension will be extended from Dalston Junction to Highbury & Islington, in order to make a connection with the North London Railway.
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This is the first step towards an orbital rail network for London, meaning passengers will be able to travel direct between Richmond (on the North London Line) or Clapham Junction (on the West London Line) to West Croydon (on the East London Railway) via Dalston Junction.
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From November 2007, 'London Overground' passengers will benefit from a programme of improvements to stations and services on the North London Railway, funded by TfL's £10bn Investment Programme.
Photos:
Photos of new ‘London Overground' roundel; images of stations; and maps of the new lines available through TfL at: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/press-centre/image-gallery/
