Canning Town station

Canning Town station is an inter-modal transport interchange in Canning Town, northeast London, England. It is served by the London Underground Jubilee line, the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) and local buses operated for London Buses. It is in Travelcard Zone 3. From 1846 to 1873 it was known as Barking Road station.

History

Barking Road station was opened by the Eastern Counties and Thames Junction Railway on the south side of Barking Road in the Parish of West Ham in 1846. It was moved to the north side of Barking Road (near Stephenson Street) in 1888. The booking hall was replaced in the 1960s, and survived until 28 May 1994. On 29 October 1995 a new North London Line station on the current site was opened. Original DLR plans were that the Beckton line would run directly east/west between Blackwall and Royal Victoria, and the substantial loop to serve Canning Town was a late design change. The DLR station opened on 28 March 1994, but was closed between 6 June 1996 and 5 March 1998 for the construction of the Jubilee line extension. The Jubilee line station opened on 14 May 1999.^[4] The North London Line platforms closed on 9 December 2006, as part of the closure of the Stratford to North Woolwich section of the line.

On 31 August 2011, platforms opened on the new Stratford International branch of the Docklands Light Railway.^[3]

On the station is a plaque commemorating the Thames Iron Works which stood on this site.

Design

The interchange is above ground, but access is by an underground concourse stretching the width of the site and connected to all platforms and the bus station by escalators, stairs and lifts. To the west of the complex there are two island platforms, one immediately above the other. The lower (surface level) platforms are served by the Jubilee line and the upper platforms by the DLR. Alongside and to the east of the Jubilee line platforms is an island platform which was served by the North London Line until 9 December 2006 and alongside that is the bus station, which has an enclosed above-ground concourse with doors to the surrounding bus bays.

The DLR branch to London City Airport opened on 2 December 2005. This line diverges from the line to Beckton 1/4 mile south of the interchange, with trains from both branches serving the current platforms. The first station along this route is West Silvertown. A substantial change to the DLR junction south of the station opened on 1 June 2009, when the Beckton line was diverted onto a new flyover which crosses the eastbound Woolwich line and the new Stratford line. As a result of these changes trains from the Woolwich and Beckton lines which previously terminated at Canning Town are now extended to the next crossover available to the west, at Blackwall.

Location

The interchange is situated on a north-south alignment, constrained by Bow Creek immediately to the west, Silvertown Way to the east, the A13 Canning Town Flyover, a major east-west road bridge crossing the Canning Town Roundabout at the throat of the station to the north, and the River Thames to the south.

London buses that serve here: 5, 69, 115, 147, 241, 300, 309, 323, 330, 474, N15, N550 and N551.

Services

In normal operation trains from Beckton run to Tower Gateway, and those from Woolwich Arsenal / London City Airport run to Bank, both every 10 minutes with more frequent services at peak periods. When there are major exhibitions at the Excel Exhibition Centre an additional shuttle service runs every 10 minutes between Canning Town and Prince Regent. Approaching Canning Town station the shuttle trains are routed into the centre siding which is south of the station, to wait for a gap between Eastbound trains, and then enter and reverse in the Eastbound platform. It is normal when this is taking place for station staff to be deployed to guide passengers; normally the DLR platforms are unstaffed.

The North London Line platforms have been redeveloped as part of the extension of the DLR from Canning Town to Stratford International via West Ham, which see a more frequent service to Stratford, although passengers to NLL destinations beyond will have to change. On the London City Airport extension there is a station planned south-east of here called Thames Wharf, depending mainly on the regeneration of the area.

References

External links

• Docklands Light Railway website - Canning Town station page
• Photograph of one of the Jubilee line platforms