The £130m eight-month works to electrify and double capacity on a busy Overground route is set to start this summer, it has been announced.

Network Rail works on the Barking to Gospel Oak line, which serves Leyton, Leytonstone and Walthamstow, will start from June this year.

A part-closure of the line will commence from early June to late September, with trains just running between Gospel Oak and South Tottenham during weekdays, and a full closure of the line from October 2016 to early February 2017.

Further works to have the line ready for electric trains will take place during evenings and weekends only and will be completed by the end of June 2017.

Transport for London (TfL) will be providing rail replacement buses which will operate along the route.

Existing two-carriage diesel trains will be replaced with eight faster and greener four-car electric trains by January 2018 and platforms will be lengthened to accommodate them.

Electrification work will mean the reconstruction of at least 12 bridges to accommodate new power cables and three new switching stations.

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.

He added: “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.”