Under a proposed timetable change due to be introduced this December, Weaver Line passengers would not wait longer than ten minutes for a rush-hour train

Plans by Transport for London (TfL) to reduce peak-time overcrowding on the London Overground through Edmonton and Tottenham are “long overdue” according to a local campaign body.

In response to questions by Enfield Transport User Group (ETUG), TfL says it is actively considering ways to provide a more regular service on the London Overground between Edmonton Green and Liverpool Street – the route now known as the ‘Weaver Line’ – by the end of this year.

Since a timetable change last year, Edmonton Green and Seven Sisters stations are no longer served by peak-time services from Greater Anglia, which was a move TfL says it opposed because of its impact on overcrowding during rush hour.

But TfL now says a more even spacing of London Overground services should mean reduced crowding on trains, thanks to a regular ten-minute spacing being provided between services.

Kit Montague, a customer experience executive at TfL, said: “This withdrawal of services [by Greater Anglia in May 2023] does give us the opportunity to provide more even intervals on the services to/from Enfield Town and Cheshunt on the trunk section of the route between Edmonton Green and Hackney Downs, reducing loadings and crowding on the trains that currently follow the longest (circa 15-minute) intervals during peak periods.

“Under this proposal a 30-minute interval service will still be offered on the Cheshunt branch, whilst intervals on the Enfield Town branch will become slightly more uneven at between circa twelve and 18 minutes. This is necessary to ensure the most even interval is provided where the crowding level is greatest at Seven Sisters.”

While the changes now being proposed won’t see any increase in the number of trains at peak times, TfL does say it is considering more services during weekday off-peak times – with potentially three trains per hour being introduced on the Enfield Town and Cheshunt branches, which are currently only served by half-hourly services.

This would then mean six trains per hour being provided through the Edmonton and Tottenham section of the route throughout the whole day.

Kit adds: “The implementation of this change remains subject to further consideration of feasibility, value and affordability as well as the implementation of the wider service changes.”

A further change could see additional late-night services into London.

Phil Ridley, from ETUG, said: “It is long overdue that there will be a balanced peak service of a train every ten minutes between Edmonton Green and Liverpool Street. However, as a result of more trains not being provided, this will be at the expense of Enfield Town having uneven services and despite the Cheshunt branch now having as many passengers as the Enfield Town branch, the Cheshunt branch [serving Turkey Street and Southbury] will continue to have only two trains per hour at peak.

“We welcome plans for three trains per hour to both branches during off-peak times during weekdays but believe that this upgrade should also apply at weekends, which often coincide with events at White Hart Lane.

“We welcome more later services from Enfield and Cheshunt to London, which will help support the evening economy in Enfield.”

Phil adds that to provide further improvements to service frequency on the Weaver Line beyond what is now proposed, new trains will need to be built, since TfL did not order enough new rolling stock for higher peak-time frequencies at the time new class 710 trains were introduced four years ago.

But TfL has ruled out ordering more trains at the current time as they would be “unaffordable”.

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