London Overground

The London Overground (also known simply as the Overground) is a suburban rail network serving London and some of its northern areas. It was established in 2007 to take over Silverlink Metro routes. Today, it serves a large part of Greater London as well as Hertfordshire, with 113 stations on its six lines.

The Overground is part of the United Kingdom's National Rail network but is managed and branded by Transport for London (TfL). Since 2026, operation has been handled by First Rail London. In the past, TfL used orange as a special color for the Overground in its branding. By 2024, each of the six Overground lines received its own unique color and name.

History

Rail services in Great Britain are mostly run under franchises operated by private train operating companies, marketed together as National Rail.

The idea of creating a network of orbital services around London started in the early 1970s. Some of these ideas were studied in 1974, suggesting using existing rail routes to create new services. These plans included routes from Broad Street to Richmond, Barking to Clapham Junction, and Ealing Broadway to North Woolwich. However, nothing came of these proposals.

British Rail operated North London Line services until 1997.

In 1979, plans were made to improve a service from Camden Road to North Woolwich, using a previously freight-only line. This service was called the Crosstown Linkline and used small diesel trains.

In 2003, a pilot scheme was launched to bring several local rail services in South London under one brand, the ON – Overground Network. This helped improve information and signage at stations.

In 2007, the Silverlink Metro services were transferred to Transport for London (TfL) control. TfL decided to let this service run as a management contract, with TfL taking the revenue risk.

From 1997 to 2007, the North London Line was operated by Silverlink.

On 11 November 2007, TfL took over suburban services previously operated by Silverlink Metro. The launch was accompanied by a marketing campaign entitled "London's new train set". TfL promised to improve service frequencies, station facilities, staff all stations, introduce new trains, and allow Oyster pay as you go throughout the network.

In 2010, the East London line became part of the London Overground network. This added new routes and increased ridership.

In 2012, the South London line was extended from Surrey Quays to Clapham Junction. This required new tracks and engineering work.

In 2015, services from Liverpool Street to Enfield Town, Cheshunt, and Chingford, as well as the Romford to Upminster service, were transferred to TfL to become part of the London Overground network.

Network

The London Overground started in 2007, taking over some train routes. Most of its tracks are above ground and connect places outside Central London. It has many stops in London fare zone 2 and also uses a station in central London called Euston.

The Overground connects with many other train lines, like the Bakerloo, Central, Circle, District, Hammersmith & City, Jubilee, Metropolitan, Northern, and Victoria lines. It also links with the Docklands Light Railway, Elizabeth line, and Tramlink networks. Maps of the Overground are available from Transport for London. The Overground helps bring development to areas that had been less well-connected before.

Windrush line
Route	tph	Calling at
Dalston Junction to New Cross	4	Haggerston Hoxton Shoreditch High Street Whitechapel Shadwell Wapping Rotherhithe Canada Water Surrey Quays
Dalston Junction to Clapham Junction	4	Haggerston Hoxton Shoreditch High Street Whitechapel Shadwell Wapping Rotherhithe Canada Water Surrey Quays Queens Road Peckham Peckham Rye Denmark Hill Clapham High Street Wandsworth Road
Highbury & Islington to Crystal Palace	4	Canonbury Dalston Junction Haggerston Hoxton Shoreditch High Street Whitechapel Shadwell Wapping Rotherhithe Canada Water Surrey Quays New Cross Gate Brockley Honor Oak Park Forest Hill Sydenham
Highbury & Islington to West Croydon	4	Canonbury Dalston Junction Haggerston Hoxton Shoreditch High Street, Whitechapel Shadwell Wapping Rotherhithe Canada Water Surrey Quays New Cross Gate Brockley Honor Oak Park Forest Hill Sydenham Penge West Anerley Norwood Junction
Mildmay line
Route	tph	Calling at
Richmond to Stratford	4	Kew Gardens Gunnersbury, South Acton Acton Central Willesden Junction Kensal Rise Brondesbury Park Brondesbury West Hampstead Finchley Road & Frognal Hampstead Heath Gospel Oak Kentish Town West Camden Road Caledonian Road & Barnsbury Highbury & Islington Canonbury Dalston Kingsland Hackney Central Homerton Hackney Wick
Clapham Junction to Stratford	4	Imperial Wharf West Brompton Kensington (Olympia) Shepherd's Bush Willesden Junction Kensal Rise Brondesbury Park Brondesbury West Hampstead Finchley Road & Frognal Hampstead Heath Gospel Oak Kentish Town West Camden Road Caledonian Road & Barnsbury Highbury & Islington Canonbury Dalston Kingsland Hackney Central Homerton Hackney Wick
Lioness line
Route	tph	Calling at
Watford Junction to London Euston	4	Watford High Street Bushey Carpenders Park Hatch End Headstone Lane Harrow & Wealdstone Kenton South Kenton North Wembley Wembley Central Stonebridge Park Harlesden Willesden Junction Kensal Green Queen's Park Kilburn High Road South Hampstead
Suffragette line
Route	tph	Calling at
Gospel Oak to Barking Riverside	4	Upper Holloway Crouch Hill Harringay Green Lanes South Tottenham Blackhorse Road Walthamstow Queen's Road Leyton Midland Road Leytonstone High Road Wanstead Park Woodgrange Park Barking
Weaver line
Route	tph	Calling at
London Liverpool Street to Enfield Town	2	Bethnal Green Cambridge Heath London Fields Hackney Downs Rectory Road Stoke Newington Stamford Hill Seven Sisters Bruce Grove White Hart Lane Silver Street Edmonton Green Bush Hill Park
London Liverpool Street to Cheshunt	2	Bethnal Green Cambridge Heath London Fields Hackney Downs Rectory Road Stoke Newington Stamford Hill Seven Sisters Bruce Grove White Hart Lane Silver Street Edmonton Green Southbury Turkey Street Theobalds Grove
London Liverpool Street to Chingford	4	Bethnal Green Hackney Downs Clapton St James Street Walthamstow Central Wood Street Highams Park
Liberty line
Route	tph	Calling at
Romford to Upminster	2	Emerson Park

Operations

London Overground's main office and control center is at Swiss Cottage. Trains are kept and fixed at Willesden Junction and New Cross Gate TMDs. Some extra train spots are at places like Stratford and London Euston. Train drivers work at many stations across the network. Until around 2013, some trains needed both a driver and a conductor, but now most trains only need a driver.

The London Overground is run by First Rail London under a contract with Transport for London (TfL) that lasts until 2034. TfL decides ticket prices, buys the trains, and sets how often trains run. The company running the trains only has a small part of the risk, while TfL handles most of it.

Overground House, the head office in Swiss Cottage

Ticketing for the Overground uses paper tickets, Oyster cards, and electronic cards for paying as you go. Passengers can also use a Travelcard for daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly travel. Some stations now have ticket barriers to help keep things safe and make sure people pay correctly.

Branding

New sign with rebranded line names

The London Overground uses the same design style as the London Underground, with bright orange signs and special symbols. The signs and train names use the same font as the Underground, making them easy to read.

Before 2024, the Overground lines were shown on maps with a double line instead of colors, like the Docklands Light Railway and the Elizabeth line. In 2024, each Overground line got its own special name and color to help people find their way easier. These names celebrate important moments from London’s past.

Name	Indicated by	Route	Reason for name
Lioness line	(yellow parallel lines)	Euston to Watford, including Wembley Central	Intended to honour the England women's football team, including their win in UEFA Women's Euro 2022 at Wembley Stadium
Mildmay line	(blue parallel lines)	Stratford to Richmond/Clapham Junction	Intended to honour the work of the Mildmay Mission Hospital, a charitable HIV hospital located in Shoreditch
Windrush line	(red parallel lines)	Highbury & Islington to Clapham Junction/New Cross/Crystal Palace/West Croydon	Intended to honour the Caribbean communities (particularly the "Windrush generation" of 1940s and 1950s arrivals, named after the ship HMT Empire Windrush) that the route runs through
Weaver line	(maroon parallel lines)	Liverpool Street to Cheshunt/Enfield Town/Chingford	Runs through parts of London known for the textile trade, especially the historic area of the Huguenot weavers
Suffragette line	(green parallel lines)	Gospel Oak to Barking Riverside	Barking was the home of the longest-lived women's suffragette, Annie Huggett
Liberty line	(grey parallel lines)	Romford to Upminster	Referencing the Royal Liberty of Havering, and the wider freedom that is a "defining feature of London".

Passenger numbers

Since the London Overground started in 2007, the number of passengers has grown very fast. There were big jumps in passengers in 2010/11 and 2011/12 because new parts of the East London line and South London line opened. In May 2015, some train services from Liverpool Street were moved to the London Overground from the Greater Anglia franchise. This change also helped make the number of passengers grow a lot between 2014/15 and 2015/16.

London Overground passenger numbers (millions) 2007/08-2022/23

Annual passenger numbers
Year	Passengers (millions)	% Change
2007–08	28.8	N/A
2008–09	33.2	15.3
2009–10	34.3	3.3
2010–11	57.2	66.8
2011–12	102.6	79.4
2012–13	124.6	21.4
2013–14	135.7	8.9
2014–15	139.8	3.0
2015–16	184.4	31.9
2016–17	188.8	2.4
2017–18	189.8	0.9
2018–19	188.1	0.8
2019–20	186.0	1.1
2020–21	59.2	68.2
2021–22	126.9	114.3
2022–23	157.1	23.7
2023–24	181.4	15.5
2024–25	180.4	0.6

Rolling stock

Since the London Overground began, Transport for London has been updating its trains. Old trains were replaced with newer models to make travel better. In 2009, new trains called Class 378 Capitalstars started running on some lines, and later, new Class 172 Turbostar trains began service on others. By 2010, all the old trains were gone.

These new trains have special features like more seating and air conditioning to keep passengers comfortable. Some trains were later extended to have more cars. The trains are leased from companies until 2027. More recent updates include the introduction of Class 710 Aventra trains starting in 2019, which are used on several lines now.

Class 378 "Capitalstar" unit 378216 departs Gospel Oak with a Mildmay line service to Stratford. Class 313 and Class 508 units were gradually phased out of London Overground services in favour of these units.

Current fleet

Past fleet

Former train types operated by London Overground include:

Livery

All the current trains have a special design with white and black colors, blue and orange stripes, and the London Overground logo. Some older trains had different colors before they were replaced. The seats also have special fabric designed by artists.

Family	Class	Image	Type	Top speed		Number	Coaches	Years built
Family	Class	Image	Type	mph	km/h	Number	Coaches	Years built
Bombardier Electrostar	378 Capitalstar		EMU	75	120	57	5	2008–2011
Bombardier Electrostar	378 Capitalstar
Bombardier Aventra	710 Aventra					48	4	2017–2020
						6	5	2020

Family	Class	Image	Type	Top speed		Number	Coaches	Routes operated	Years built	Years operated
Family	Class	Image	Type	mph	km/h	Number	Coaches	Routes operated	Years built	Years operated
Sprinter	150/1		DMU	75	120	6	2	Gospel Oak to Barking line	1984–1987	2007–2010
Bombardier Turbostar	172/0			100	160	8	2	Gospel Oak to Barking line	2010	2010–2019
Bombardier Turbostar	172/0
BREL 1972	313/1		EMU	75	120	23	3	North London line Watford DC line West London line	1976–1977	2007–2010
	313/1
	315					17	4	Lea Valley lines Romford–Upminster line	1980–1981	2015–2020
	315
BR Second Generation (Mark 3)	317/7			100	161	8	4	Lea Valley lines	1981–1982	2015–2020
	317/7
	317/8					6	4	Lea Valley lines	1981–1982	2015–2020
	321/4					2	4	Romford–Upminster line	1988–1990	2015–2016
BREL 1972	508/3			75	120	3	3	Watford DC line	1979–1980	2007–2010
BREL 1972	508/3

Recent developments

Gospel Oak to Barking line

Main article: Gospel Oak to Barking line

In 2013, it was announced that £115 million would be used to update the trains on this line. This money came from the government's plans to improve train services. At the same time, Transport for London got £90 million more help from important government leaders.

Work to update the line began in 2015. There were times when the line closed, especially on weekends, to make these changes. The updates included adding new wires so that special electric trains could start running in early 2018.

Plans were also made to extend the line to a new place called Barking Riverside. This area is where many new homes are being built. In 2014, it was announced that £263 million would be used for this extension. Construction started in 2017 and finished in July 2022, when trains began stopping at Barking Riverside.

Night service

Starting in December 2017, London Overground began running trains all night on Friday and Saturday between Dalston Junction and New Cross Gate, just like the Night Tube on the London Underground. In February 2018, this night service was extended to include Highbury & Islington, where passengers can switch to overnight trains on the Victoria line.

Proposed developments

Watford DC line move to Bakerloo

In 2007, Transport for London (TfL) suggested extending the Bakerloo line to Watford Junction. This would have used part of the line from Queen's Park to Watford Junction only for the London Underground, and London Overground services would have changed.

Croxley Link

Plans were approved in 2011 to connect the Croxley Rail Link, but these were paused in 2017 because of money problems.

Old Oak Common interchange

There are long-term plans to build a station at Old Oak Common station where people could switch between trains. This station could open by 2025 and connect with the Overground.

Thamesmead extension

There are ideas to extend a train line under the River Thames to Thamesmead and then to Abbey Wood.

Future acquisitions

After finishing the first part of the London Overground network in 2012, TfL wanted to take over more train lines. In September 2025, TfL planned to take over some train services to Welwyn Garden City, Hertford North, and Stevenage.

Past attempts on acquiring routes

In 2012–2013, TfL tried to take over more train services but faced problems. Some services were added in 2015, but others were not possible.

Greenford branch

The government suggested TfL take over a train line in West London. This would add places like Greenford and West Ealing to the Overground network.

West London Orbital

Main article: West London Orbital

There have been ideas for several years to reopen a train line as part of the London Overground. In 2019, TfL looked at connecting Hounslow with Hendon and Cricklewood with new stops.

Crowd information

In 2017, a new system was tested at Shoreditch High Street station. This system shows how full each train car is, helping people find spaces to board more easily. The idea came from Thameslink trains and, if it works well, it might be used on more London Overground trains.