Editing Gospel Oak to Barking line (section)

===Potential Abbey Wood extension===
Following the plan to extend the line to [[Barking Riverside railway station|Barking Riverside]], there were also proposals to extend the line further across the river to [[Abbey Wood railway station|Abbey Wood]] via [[Thamesmead]], to allow for easier Orbital journeys in East London, and provide [[Thamesmead]] with a railway connection for the first time.<ref>{{cite news |title = Call to bring London Overground to Thamesmead – south east London's largest town with no trains |url = http://www.thisislocallondon.co.uk/news/11488390.display/ |work = This is London Local |date = 22 September 2014}}</ref> This was outlined in the [[R25 (London)|R25]] orbital railway proposal in 2014,<ref>{{Cite news |last = Dudman |first = Jane |url = https://www.theguardian.com/public-leaders-network/2014/aug/01/boris-johnsons-london-orbital-railway-is-it-a-good-idea |title = Boris Johnson's London orbital railway – is it a good idea? |date = 1 August 2014 |work = The Guardian |access-date = 17 April 2020 |language = en-GB |issn = 0261-3077}}</ref> and the potential of a future extension was mentioned in the inspectors report of the [[Transport and Works Act 1992|Transport and Works Order]] authorising the extension to Barking Riverside.<ref name=":1" />

However, in 2019 [[Transport for London]] and [[Greater London Authority|City Hall]] proposed an [[Thamesmead Extension Scheme|extension of the Docklands Light Railway (DLR)]] to serve [[Thamesmead]] instead of an extension of the [[London Overground|Overground]], as part of the proposed Thamesmead and Abbey Wood [[London Plan|OAPF (Opportunity Area Planning Framework)]].<ref>{{Cite web |url = https://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/18202007.workshops-future-thamesmead-abbey-wood-opened-public/ |title = Workshops about the future of Thamesmead and Abbey Wood opened to public |website = News Shopper |date = 31 January 2020 |language = en-gb |access-date = 17 April 2020}}</ref> A DLR extension was chosen due to lower connectivity benefits of an Overground extension, the low frequency (four trains per hour) of the Gospel Oak to Barking line, and — most significantly — a construction cost twice as much as the DLR, as the gradients required to cross the [[River Thames]] would require large scale tunnelling works when compared to the DLR.<ref>{{Cite web |url = https://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/md2696_appendices_a-f.pdf |title = Thamesmead and Abbey Wood OAPF - OAPF Transport Strategy - December 2019 Draft |date = December 2019 |publisher = [[Greater London Authority]] |access-date = 17 April 2020}}</ref> Despite recommending an extension of the DLR to [[Thamesmead]], the consultation also noted that an extension of the Gospel Oak to Barking line could provide good orbital transport links in the long term.