Rail for London has started shortlisting firms to bid for the £150 million project that will see the construction of a new London Overground line that will connect the centre of the capital to the planned 11,000 home development at Barking Riverside.

The contract will include the construction of an elevated extension from the existing railway line along with a new station at the Barking Riverside development and the modification of the existing Network Rail operational railway infrastructure.

The development will see the existing railway lines from Barking station modified over a 3km stretch with a new 1.5km railway extension from Renwick Road over a bridge to the new terminus station.

The works will also include the construction of an embankment ramp that will lead up to a new concrete viaduct which will support an extension of the two track railway of 1.5km into the middle of the new Barking Riverside residential development.

The RfL will provide an approved and completed design for the works to the firms invited to tender for the development.

Work is due to start on the project in February 2018, while the completion date has been set as August 2020.

Meanwhile, Sadiq Khan has said that Southern Rail is an “embarrassment” to London and urged the government to remover the operator of its franchise.

The Mayor accused the company of providing a “disgraceful” level of service which has let down its commuters.

Khan has now called on the Department for Transport to take control of Govia Thameslink Railway operations in the short term, which inflicts “unceasing misery” on its thousands of passengers on a daily basis.

This week, the operator introduced an emergency timetable with almost 350 services cancelled each day, which left commuters stranded on replacement bus services or crammed onto full trains.

As a result, hundreds of fuming passengers gathered at Victoria Station to protest.