High capacity bus system opens up Barking Riverside for housing development

Transport for London (TfL) has confirmed that construction of the first section of the East London Transit begins this week in Barking Town Centre. The high capacity bus system will run from Ilford to Dagenham Dock via Barking Town Centre.

It will boost services for local residents as well as help support the regeneration of east London, particularly in its encouragement of housing development at Barking Riverside.

Construction begins just weeks after TfL received confirmation of an additional £18.5m of funding, which will extend the scheme by linking the Barking Riverside Development to Barking Town Centre and Dagenham Dock.

The extra funds provided by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) and the Department for Transport mean that both planned phases of the East London Transit are now fully funded.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: “A huge amount of money has been earmarked to improve transport links in east London and the extra dosh the Government has said we can use to extend the East London Transit is fabulous news for people living or working in the area.

The investment is the largest of eleven major projects coming to fruition over the coming months in the Thames Gateway through the Community Infrastructure Fund.