London Overground Rail Operations Limited was a

train operating company A train operating company (TOC) is a business operating passenger trains on the railway system of Great Britain under the collective National Rail brand. TOCs have existed since the privatisation of the network under the Railways Act 1993. Th ...

contracted to operate the

London Overground London Overground (also known simply as the Overground) is a suburban rail network serving London and its environs. Established in 2007 to take over Silverlink Metro routes, (via archive.org). it now serves a large part of Greater London as w ...

train service on the

National Rail National Rail (NR) is the trading name licensed for use by the Rail Delivery Group, an unincorporated association whose membership consists of the passenger train operating companies (TOCs) of England, Scotland, and Wales. The TOCs run the ...

network, under the franchise control of Transport for London. The company was a 50/50

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...

between Arriva UK Trains and

MTR Corporation MTR Corporation Limited is a majority government-owned public transport operator and property developer in Hong Kong which operates the Mass Transit Railway, the most popular public transport network in Hong Kong. It is listed on the Hon ...

History

On 20 February 2006, the

Department for Transport The Department for Transport (DfT) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland that have not been devolved. The ...

announced that Transport for London would take over management of services then provided by Silverlink Metro. In June 2006, Transport for London announced that Govia,

MTR The Mass Transit Railway (MTR) is a major public transport network serving :Hong Kong. Operated by the MTR Corporation Limited (MTRCL), it consists of heavy rail, light rail, and feeder bus service centred on a 10-line rapid transit network ...

/ Laing Rail,

National Express National Express Group is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Birmingham, England. It operates bus, coach, train and tram services in the United Kingdom, Ireland (National Express operates Eurolines in conjunction ...

and NedRail had been shortlisted to bid for the London Rail Concession. In September 2006, Transport for London announced that the extended East London Line would be included, and the operation branded ''London Overground''. In June 2007, Transport for London awarded the concession to MTR Laing, and operations started on 11 November 2007. The concession was for six years, four months until 31 March 2014 with a two-year extension option. The option was taken up with the concession to end on 12 November 2016. In December 2007, Henderson Group, the parent company of John Laing plc, announced the sale of the Laing Rail division, which comprised half of LOROL,

Chiltern Railways Chiltern Railways, formally The Chiltern Railway Company Limited, is a British train operating company that has operated the Chiltern Railways franchise since July 1996. Since 2009, it has been a subsidiary of Arriva UK Trains. Chiltern Rai ...

and a stake in the Wrexham & Shropshire open-access railway operator. In April 2008, Laing Rail was bought by the German Government's rail operator

Deutsche Bahn The (; abbreviated as DB or DB AG) is the national railway company of Germany. Headquartered in the Bahntower in Berlin, it is a joint-stock company ( AG). The Federal Republic of Germany is its single shareholder. describes itself as the ...

, which now holds a 50% stake in LOROL. The price was said to be around €170 million. Laing Rail became part of DB Regio, before a restructuring saw it moved under the control of Arriva UK Trains. In April 2015, Transport for London placed a notice in the

Official Journal of the European Union An official is someone who holds an office (function or mandate, regardless whether it carries an actual working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority, (either their own or that of their s ...

, inviting expressions of interest in operating the next concession. On 31 May 2015, London Overground Rail Operations took over the Liverpool Street to

Enfield Town Enfield is a large town in north London, England, north of Charing Cross. It had a population of 156,858 in 2018. It includes the areas of Botany Bay, Brimsdown, Bulls Cross, Bullsmoor, Bush Hill Park, Clay Hill, Crews Hill, Enfield ...

Cheshunt Cheshunt ( ) is a town in Hertfordshire, England, north of London on the River Lea and Lee Navigation. It contains a section of the Lee Valley Park, including much of the River Lee Country Park. To the north lies Broxbourne and Wormley, Waltha ...

(via Seven Sisters) and

Chingford Chingford is a town in east London, England, within the London Borough of Waltham Forest. The town is approximately north-east of Charing Cross, with Waltham Abbey to the north, Woodford Green and Buckhurst Hill to the east, Walthamstow ...

services, as well as the

Romford Romford is a large town in east London and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Havering. It is located northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Historically, Romfo ...

to Upminster service, from

Abellio Greater Anglia Greater Anglia (legal name Abellio East Anglia Limited) is a train operating company in Great Britain owned as a joint venture by Abellio, the international arm of the state-owned Dutch national rail operator Nederlandse Spoorwegen, and the Ja ...

. In July 2015, Transport for London announced the shortlisted bidders for the next concession were Arriva UK Trains,

ComfortDelGro ComfortDelGro Corporation is a multi-national land transport company listed on the Singapore Exchange, operating about 35,000 vehicles in seven countries. It was formed on 29 March 2003 through a merger of Singapore-based land transport compa ...

, a

Keolis Keolis is a multinational transportation company that operates public transport systems. The company manages bus, rapid transit, tram, coach networks, rental bikes, car parks, water taxi, cable car, trolleybus and funicular services. Based ...

/ Go-Ahead joint venture and

. In March 2016,

Arriva Rail London Arriva Rail London is a train operating company owned by Arriva UK Trains that operates the London Overground concession on behalf of Transport for London. History In April 2015, Transport for London placed a notice in the ''Official Journal ...

was awarded the concession commencing 13 November 2016.Arriva wins £1.5bn London Overground contract
''

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

'' 18 March 2016

Services

London Overground operates these services: * East London line: Highbury & Islington to West Croydon/ Crystal Palace; Dalston Junction to

New Cross New Cross is an area in south east London, England, south-east of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Lewisham and the SE14 postcode district. New Cross is near St Johns, Telegraph Hill, Nunhead, Peckham, Brockley, Deptford and Gree ...

Clapham Junction Clapham Junction is an urban locality around Clapham Junction railway station in London, England. Despite its name, it is not located in Clapham, but forms the commercial centre of Battersea. Clapham Junction was a scene of disturbances dur ...

* Gospel Oak to Barking line: Gospel Oak to Barking *

North London line The North London line (NLL) is a railway line which passes through the inner suburbs of west, north-west, north, and east London, England between Richmond in the south-west and Stratford in the east, avoiding central London. Its route is a r ...

: Richmond to Stratford * Watford DC line: Watford Junction to Euston * West London line:

to Willesden Junction * South London line: Dalston Junction to

* Lea Valley line: Liverpool Street to

and

via Seven Sisters, and

via Clapton * Romford–Upminster line:

to Upminster

Rolling stock

London Overground inherited a fleet of Class 150 ''Sprinter''

diesel multiple unit A diesel multiple unit or DMU is a multiple-unit train powered by on-board diesel engines. A DMU requires no separate locomotive, as the engines are incorporated into one or more of the carriages. Diesel-powered single-unit railcars are als ...

s, and Class 313 and Class 508 electric multiple units, from Silverlink. Between 2009 and 2011, the Sprinters were replaced with new Class 172 ''Turbostar'' units, and the Class 313s and 508s with new Class 378 ''Capitalstar'' units. London Overground further inherited a number of Class 315 and Class 317 EMUs from

upon the takeover of the Lea Valley lines from Liverpool Street and the Romford–Upminster line on 31 May 2015.

Final fleet

Past fleet

Depots

London Overground's fleet was maintained at

and

Willesden Willesden () is an area of northwest London, situated 5 miles (8 km) northwest of Charing Cross. It is historically a parish in the county of Middlesex that was incorporated as the Municipal Borough of Willesden in 1933, and has formed ...

depots.

References

External links

LOROL official site
{{MTR Corporation Arriva Group companies Defunct train operating companies John Laing Group London Overground MTR Corporation Railway companies established in 2007 Railway companies disestablished in 2016 Railway operators in London 2007 establishments in England 2016 disestablishments in England