News from the twin town – July 2022
Overground for Riverside
The Overground line from Barking Riverside to Barking is due to start running this summer. An exact date for the first scheduled trains has not yet been set. Trains are currently running on a trial basis and training drivers for the new route.
Previously, it takes 25 minutes to travel by bus from Riverside to Barking Station; the Overground does it in seven minutes. Work on the line has been ongoing since 2018, with implementation delayed by Corona. Four trains every hour are planned for the initial phase.
The improved transport service is important for the Riverside project; because of the planned 10,800 flats in this area, a maximum of 4000 may be occupied as long as there is no fast transport connection.
Film studios: ground-breaking ceremony
A ceremonial ground-breaking took place in June for the long-discussed film studios in Dagenham East on a nearly 70,000 sqm former industrial site. Plans for the facility were forged in 2016 by the council, the Mayor of London and investors from the film industry. The investment is to be around two billion pounds. And the studios are to be ready as early as December 2023.
Pub on the heritage list
Because of its “architectural significance”, The Admiral Vernon pub in Dagenham has been added to the national heritage list. There is currently a movement to have old pubs listed throughout England. The Admiral was joined on the list by ten other houses, all of which serve “real ale”. The Tudor-style building was built together with the Becontree settlement a good hundred years ago.
The facilities include a games room with a large pool table and darts.
Mosaic in the Underground Station
The designer Katja Rosenberg from Dagenham, who is also involved in the “Club”, is currently working with 300 school children on a mosaic that will soon make a wall next to the Underground station in Dagenham look attractive. The segments are still unsorted in her cellar.
