Network Rail and Transport for London (TfL) have confirmed that London Overground’s Gospel Oak to Barking Line will be closed for eight months while electrification works are carried out.

The Gospel Oak to Barking Line, sometimes referred to as GOBLIN, will be partially closed from early June to late September – trains will still run between Gospel Oak and South Tottenham on weekdays – and then fully closed from October to February 2017.

To accommodate the new OLE gantries, the electrification project will require some sections of track to be lowered and bridges to be rebuilt.

Work will also be carried out at stations, lengthening platforms to accommodate the new fleet of Class 710 EMUs, which will enter service in 2018.

Network Rail’s route managing director, Richard Schofield, said: “This is a vital project to keep pace with continued growing demand for rail. This investment will transform the service on this route, doubling capacity with cleaner, quieter electric trains and is a key element of the Railway Upgrade Plan.”

Mike Stubbs, TfL’s director of London Overground, said: “Customers along the line will reap the benefits when work to electrify the route is complete.

“It will allow for new longer walk-through trains to operate from January 2018, which will double capacity to meet growing demand on the route. It will also enable a new rail extension to Barking Riverside, which will support up to 11,000 new homes.

“We recognise that eight months is an extensive disruption for our customers, but this is minimised for the first four months by being a partial closure during the week, followed then by a full line closure. We continue to work with Network Rail to see if the timescales they set out can be reduced.”