The London Overground is on track to run later into the night after a new operator took over from Transport for London.

New trains, more frequent services and later running times were promised by Arriva, which was announced today as the £1.5bn contract holders for the entire network from November this year.

The contract is due to last seven-and-a-half years, with an option to extend for an extra two.

Gareth Powell, TfL’s chief operating officer of London Rail, welcomed the move.

He said: “We have worked hard to deliver major improvements for our customers, taking a neglected part of the transport network and transforming it to support new homes, jobs and economic growth across the capital.

“Arriva will build on this by extending operating hours, improving frequencies and introducing new trains. I would also like to thank the existing operator LOROL for their work that has helped make London Overground the huge success story it is today.”

The announcement comes a day after the Mayor of London Boris Johnson backed an extension of the Gospel Oak-Barking Overground line to the new Barking Riverside development.

The same line will shut from October this year for five months as engineers carry out an eight-month upgrade programme.

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