East London Line – open for business

The East London Line is fully open for business this Sunday (23 May), following a month’s preview of the Dalston Junction to New Cross Gate section. The full service takes in New Cross, West Croydon and Crystal Palace and will see trains run from around 5.40am to midnight on weekdays and Saturdays, and from around 7am on Sundays.

The £1 billion upgrade includes new air-conditioned trains, four new and 14 refurbished stations, 3.5 km of new track and bridges (and renewal of older track and bridges), and a new maintenance depot. Around 100,000 commuters are expected to use the new London Overground route per day in 2011 (rising to 120,000 by 2016), compared to 30,000 per day on its Tube predecessor.

Keen to publicise the opening, TfL are giving 10,000 free tickets away across the line on Sunday. Early birds can take in the new line from the following times:

Northbound:

West Croydon to Dalston – 0642
Crystal Palace to Dalston – 0707
New Cross to Dalston – 0854

Southbound:

Dalston to Crystal Palace – 0656
Dalston to West Croydon – 0712
Dalston to New Cross – 0822

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