TfL set to take over Liverpool Street’s Enfield and Chingford rail services

Part of the Liverpool Street suburban rail network in east London is being incorporated into the London Overground.

The Chingford and Enfield lines through Bethnal Green and Hackney will appear on the Underground map for the first time from 2015, it has been revealed in Transport for London’s latest business plan.

The move has been welcomed by the Cambridge Heath and London Fields Rail Users group which has been campaigning since 1997 for improvements on the Enfield service.

“We’re hoping the TfL takeover will improve our service to match the rest of the Overground,” said their spokesman.

“We found when we carried out our latest passenger count in December that the service was disrupted by cancelled and late trains, much of it caused by a broken-down train blocking the Chingford line.

“But in spite of that, the total peaktime numbers are the highest we’ve seen since starting our passenger count 17 years ago.”

Passenger numbers have increased by seven per cent in the past 12 months alone. London Fields now has more than a million passengers a year, according to the user group’s own count. The official statistics from the Office of Rail Regulation are due in March.