London Overground 2016

Thanks to Patrick, who has forward us a TfL Impact Study for the London Overground network. The good news is that  customer satisfaction with the service has risen in line with the soaring passenger numbers, which have grown by 160% since 2007, with half of the growth coming from the East London Line.

However, their projections for the 2016 suggest that we may be about to reach a tipping point, with overcrowding expected to get worse. This map shows the worst-affected parts of the network, with the short stretch between Surrey Quays and Canada water the most-crowded part of the East London Line.

The great squash means that measures to boost capacity become more necessary and thus, we hope, more likely, more quickly. These could include improving frequency (4 more New Cross trains could be accommodated each hour without too much fuss) and extending the length of the trains (one more carriage could be added to each train on the ELL relatively easily). They are on the drawing board already and the London mayor, who's argued passionately in recent days for a £40bn airport infrastructure investment as a means of escaping recession, could surely see the value in comparatively modest expenditure on this service.

Other points from the study worth noting:

- The network helps to reduce car journeys in the areas it serves and the greater connectivity means that people are making new journeys, which is benefits those areas' economic development. In total 12% of all journeys are by people who have switched from cars or who are making journeys they didn't before.

- Also of note is the fact that the LO has a much higher number of school children passengers, due to the fact that it provides a circular, rather than radial route across the capital.