Network Rail has launched its masterplanning process at Bow Goods Yard, E3, which aims to turn more than 30 acres of brownfield land into a rail freight campus.
The site was used as the main construction hub for the Olympics, and during the games it became home to the Olympic warm up track.
The railway operator said the site had the potential to deliver a sustainable transport network for East London through a rail-fed warehousing, with an integrated last-mile logistics hub to serve Greater London. It said the proposals will significantly reduce HGV journeys across London, delivering a lower carbon footprint and easing congestion.
Network Rail also cited potential to deliver a park-side neighbourhood of homes, leisure, industrial, open space and workspaces for emerging and creative businesses.
Maccreanor Lavington Architects has been appointed to design the scheme. Montagu Evans has been instructed as lead planning and development consultant. A period of consultation and design will take place this year, with the target to submit planning in 2024.
Bow Goods Yard hosts several heavy rail freight uses. It is the last remaining industrial site in the London Legacy Development Corporation area.
As one of the largest railheads for the capital, it supplies more than 1m tonnes of concrete and aggregate to serve the construction industry.
Robin Dobson, group property director at Network Rail, said: “As the last part of the regeneration story for the Olympic Park, Bow Goods Yard is strategically connected by both road and rail.
“The development has the potential to create London’s largest state-of-the-art freight and last mile logistics hub to serve Greater London, alongside delivering homes, a workspace campus and open space connecting to the surrounding neighbourhoods.
“The regeneration of this strategic site demonstrates the huge importance rail infrastructure plays in unlocking the development of brownfield sites and to deliver on London’s sustainability agenda.”
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