Part closure of North London Line from next February

A train line serving local stations is set to be hit by engineering work next year. The Richmond to Stratford line which serves Gunnersbury, South Acton and Acton Central will be partly closed as a result of upgrading work.

When the complete upgrade is finished in 2011, London Overground will run more frequent services with longer trains. The work is an attempt to improve the line before the Olympics as it will be a key mode of transport for the Games.

Services from Richmond and Clapham Junction to Stratford will run four times an hour, all day every day, and there will be six trains an hour between Willesden Junction and Stratford.

Between Saturday 20 February and 1 June 2010 major signalling and track renewal work, platform lengthening and the refurbishment of some stations will mean there will be no service between Gospel Oak and Stratford stations. A rail replacement service will provide buses every 20 minutes, six days a week. On Sundays this will be reduced to two buses an hour.

Ian Brown, the Managing Director of Transport for London (TfL) London Rail, said: 'We apologise to passengers for this inconvenience and are doing all we can to minimise the disruption caused. This was one of the most neglected railways in the UK when we took it over two years ago and these are essential works that will help us unlock the true potential of the London Overground network, which is to offer a far more frequent Metro-style turn up and go service."

The option of doing the work at the weekends was considered but the disruption would have taken place over a longer period.

The improvement work is part of an upgrade that will see more than 200 signals, seven kilometres of track and 69 sets of points improved and 30 station platforms lengthened.

The suspension of the Gospel Oak to Stratford services will mean that not all of the trains from Richmond and Clapham Junction will be able to run through to Gospel Oak but will have to stop at Willesden Junction.

In the morning and evening peak, two trains an hour from Clapham Junction and two trains an hour from Richmond will carry on to Gospel Oak, whilst the other one train an hour from Richmond and one train an hour from Clapham Junction will terminate and start at Willesden Junction.

There will also be one extra train during the busiest hour of the Peak period between Willesden Junction and Richmond.

Valid LO tickets will be accepted on all LO rail replacement bus services, some local bus services along the affected line and at some Tube stations. For further information please visit the TfL website.

There will be no Sunday service between Richmond and Stratford until May 2011. After which, there will be a minimum of four trains an hour all day every day. There will be no Sunday service between Shepherd's Bush and Willesden Junction, most weekends, until the early part of 2011. After which there will be four trains an hour on Saturdays and Sundays.

December 18, 2009