FOUR BIDDERS SHORTLISTED FOR LONDON OVERGROUND
Published at 21:56 on Tuesday 7th July 2015
Tags: TfL, London Overground, Franchising
London Overground Class 378 No. 378142 arrives at Whitechapel with a service to Highbury & Islington. Peter Marsh
Four bidders have shortlisted to become the new operator for the London Overground network, and as well as the recently announced new trains, there are plans for more frequent services and modernised stations.
Frequency on the North London line will also be boosted by 25% from eight to 10 trains per hour, all under a new London Overground operator concession. The short list to operate the system from November 2016 are Arriva Rail London Limited, Metroline Rail Limited, MTR Corporation, and LoKeGo Limited, the latter being a joint venture between Keolis (UK) Limited and Go-Ahead Holding Limited. The new concession will include all London Overground routes, including those that TfL has recently taken over.
TfL has also confirmed that following the completion of a 10-day standstill period, it has now signed a contract with Bombardier to build a new fleet of 45 trains in Derby, scheduled to come into service from 2018. The new rolling stock is to operate on the Liverpool Street to Enfield Town, Cheshunt (via Seven Sisters) and Chingford routes, which became part of the TfL network in May, as well as on the routes between Barking and Gospel Oak and between Romford and Upminster. It will also enable London Overground to improve service frequencies on other lines. A total of 31 of the new fleet will replace all of the old Class 315 and Class 317 EMUs currently in service on the West Anglia and Romford to Upminster routes, eight new four-carriage units will be used for the electrification of the existing route between Gospel Oak and Barking, and six will bolster services on other Overground routes. The contract covers the manufacture and maintenance of the new fleet.
