Connections and infrastructure
With its excellent road and rail links, Barking and Dagenham is one of London’s best connected boroughs.
Over the next few years our connections are set to get better still, with new transport links under construction and in the pipeline to support the capital’s eastward growth.
- Crossrail will operate from Chadwell Heath when launched
- The London Overground will be extended to Barking Riverside by 2021
- A new C2C station will open at Beam Park in 2020
- Proposals to improve the A13 are under active consideration
- Plans for new River Thames crossings serving east London are underway
The borough is increasingly a focus for house building.
Though house prices are rising much faster than the London average, the borough remains the cheapest in the capital.
Excellent transport links
This map shows our borough’s excellent transport links.
Barking and Dagenham's great transport connections map (PDF, 109.00 KB)
A13 Riverside Tunnel
The A13 is one of the busiest roads into the capital, connecting the county of Essex with central London.
Running the length of the Thames Gateway, it’s a strategically important road for commuters and freight.
This busy thoroughfare carries up to 100,000 vehicles a day through the centre of the borough, dividing the communities who live either side of it.
By diverting a 1.3km stretch of the road into a tunnel, we would be able to reconnect these communities, create a new Castle Green neighbourhood and give a further boost to the economic development of the region.
Working with Transport for London and the GLA, we have therefore submitted a business case to the government for a tunnel which would:
- improve traffic flow
- create new neighbourhoods and jobs
- unlock significant business and commercial growth
We expect to hear the outcome in spring 2016.
A13 Proposal document
A13 Riverside Tunnel - Road to Regeneration booklet (PDF, 1.38 MB)
Crossing the River Thames
From the earliest days, the River Thames has been key to London’s prosperity.
It continues to be an asset and our borough has more working wharves than any other in the capital.
However, as London’s industries expand and modernise, more and more attention is focused on connecting the business and residential communities either side of this great waterway.
In total the Mayor of London is considering 13 new crossings, with the bulk of these designed to encourage and support growth in the East:
Silvertown Tunnel
An application for powers to construct a twin bore tunnel connecting Silvertown on the north side to the Blackwall Tunnel Approach on the south side is in preparation.
Charlton
Initial concepts have been drafted for a potential passenger ferry crossing linking the Royal Docks and Charlton Riverside.
Crossrail
A new rail line linking Woolwich with Custom House and onward to Canary Wharf, central London and Heathrow Airport is now under construction.
Gallions Reach
Consultation started in December 2015 on a multi-modal crossing linking Thamesmead with Beckton.
Barking Riverside to Thamesmead
Initial concepts have been drafted for a London Overground tunnel extension from Barking Riverside to Thamesmead.
Belvedere
Consultation started in December 2015 on a multi-modal crossing connecting Belvedere with Rainham.
Lower Thames Crossing
A new road crossing linking Essex and Kent being progressed by Highways England for the Government
Further information
More information about these crossings on the Mayor of London website.
London’s best connected borough
Barking and Dagenham is at the heart of the Thames Gateway with excellent road and public transport links to central London and the rest of east London.
The borough lies midway between central London and the M25, giving easy access to markets in London, the Southeast and Europe.
The location offers the best of both worlds – the City, Canary Wharf and Stratford are all close.
The excellent national road network and Essex countryside are on the doorstep.
12 Crossrail trains an hour will operate from Chadwell Heath from 2019, cutting the journey time to London Liverpool Street to 23 minutes and to less than an hour for Heathrow.
London City Airport is on our doorstep and London Southend, Stansted and Gatwick airports can all be reached in an hour’s drive.
By 2020 the London Overground will be extended to Barking Riverside which will open the area’s potential and provide easy access to Barking for the 30,000 residents of this new River Thames location.
Crossrail
Chadwell Heath is set to become one of the best connected neighbourhoods in the borough when Crossrail opens for business.
12 trains an hour in each direction will speed through central London to Reading and Heathrow in the west, and to Shenfield in the east.
Journey times will be slashed:
- London Liverpool Street just 23 minutes away
- Paddington 34 minutes
- Heathrow Airport in under an hour.
Barking Riverside Overground extension
Work is now underway to extend London Overground rail services to a new station at Barking Riverside by 2021.
The 4 km extension of the existing Gospel Oak to Barking line will firmly connect this growing new community to London’s rail network, providing a giving a huge boost to the development of the area.
A modern new station will provide a convenient interchange with local bus services and maximise connectivity with local cycle and pedestrian routes.
A detailed map showing the extension within the Barking Riverside masterplan and surrounding developments.
London Riverside masterplan (PDF, 1.64 MB)
Building and renewing homes
Building new homes and widening the choice of housing is vitally important for local people and equally important for London’s continued growth.
Though house prices are rising much faster than the average for London, Barking and Dagenham remains the cheapest borough in the capital.
We currently have one of London’s largest house-building and housing renewal programmes.
Within 20 years we expect some 35,000 new homes to be built here.
Our growth hubs offer a number of very substantial sites for new housing.
10,800 homes will be built at Barking Riverside alone, for example.
New schools, transport links and other facilities will ensure that these new neighbourhoods become vibrant, successful communities.
We are also developing new, small and medium-sized locations across the borough, driving up standards in existing housing and building new homes on smaller plots.
Examples include:
- 550 new homes and extensive housing renewal at on the Gascoigne and Leys estates providing modernised rented homes, with homes for sale and shared ownership
- 620 affordable rented homes including shared ownership through reside
- an innovative scheme at Burford Close in Becontree replacing redundant garages with six one-bedroom houses
- 24 bungalows for older people at Stansgate Road, Dagenham
- 56 flats and houses at below market rents at Marks Gate
We’re working closely with our partners to ensure that these new homes are high quality, energy efficient, and built in a range of styles and tenures to satisfy most tastes and budgets.
If you’d like to work with us, we want to hear from you.