For many Havering businesses, transport is not background noise. It decides whether staff arrive on time, whether vans make their drops and whether customers bother coming in. Here is where things stand.

Gallows Corner: the lessons

The junction where the A12 meets the A127 closed fully in June 2025 for the replacement of its 1970s “temporary” flyover. After repeated delays, parts of it reopened on 10 May 2026, and TfL planned to reopen the whole junction, in all directions, by the end of September after final resurfacing.

The closure was a real test of business resilience. Firms that coped best had flexible delivery windows, let staff shift hours, and told customers clearly how to reach them. Those habits are worth keeping. If your business lost trade, keep the evidence: it strengthens the case for compensation schemes and better planning next time a major route closes.

SL12: Havering joins the Superloop

Since 5 September 2026 the SL12 express bus has linked Gants Hill and Rainham’s Ferry Lane via Newbury Park, King George Hospital, Romford, Queen’s Hospital and Elm Park. It runs from about 5.30am to 12.30am, every 12 minutes during the day Monday to Saturday and every 15 minutes in the evenings and on Sundays. End-to-end, it cuts the Gants Hill to Rainham journey from over an hour to around 40 to 45 minutes.

It connects with the Elizabeth line at Romford, the District line at Elm Park and the Central line at Gants Hill and Newbury Park. For employers at Ferry Lane and around Rainham, it opens up a much wider pool of staff who don’t drive. Put it in your job adverts.

Lane rental: fewer roadworks at rush hour

Havering’s Cabinet approved a lane rental scheme in October 2026. Utility companies and other works promoters will pay a daily charge to dig up the busiest roads at the busiest times. The scheme initially covers about 12% of the borough’s road network. It mirrors what TfL already does on its own roads.

The aim is to push work to quieter times and to shorter durations. For high streets and delivery firms, that should mean less disruption. Businesses can also hold the council to it: if works on a lane-rental road are hurting trade at peak times, ask whether charges are being applied.

Beam Park station: progress, not a date

Beam Park, the 4,000-home regeneration of the former Ford site between Dagenham and Rainham, has waited years for its promised c2c station. In April 2026, through the New Homes Accelerator programme, government confirmed the station could be accommodated on the existing rail network. The Greater London Authority, Havering, TfL and others are now working to secure the funding. No opening date has been announced.

More than 1,100 homes are already built. A station would bring commuters, footfall and trade to Rainham and London Riverside businesses, and unlock further phases of housing.

Nearby, Havering has confirmed signal improvements at the A1306 New Road and Marsh Way junction but cancelled a separate TfL-funded cycle route over the Marsh Way flyover. Dagenham and Rainham MP Margaret Mullane has called that a retrograde step and wants talks with officers, TfL, cyclists and local businesses about safe access to jobs.