Stratford station

Stratford station is a large multilevel railway station in Stratford, east London. The station is served by the National Rail services National Express East Anglia, London Overground and c2c, by London Underground's Central and Jubilee lines, and by the Docklands Light Railway (DLR). Stratford is in London Travelcard Zone 3, and Network Rail owns the station. To distinguish it from Stratford-upon-Avon, this station is called Stratford (London) by National Rail,^[2] and is sometimes referred to as Stratford Regional to distinguish it from Stratford International station some 400 yards (370 m) away.^[1] The station will be a key arrival point for the London 2012 Summer Olympics.^[8]

History

Stratford station was opened on 20 June 1839 by the Eastern Counties Railway (ECR). The Northern and Eastern Railway opened a section of its authorised line from Broxbourne to join the ECR at Stratford on 15 September 1840.^[9] As well as a station, a railway works was built, much of which has since been turned into a freight terminal.

Central Line services started on 4 December 1946, extended from Liverpool Street station in new tunnels after being delayed due to the Second World War. The line was further extended to Leyton on 5 May 1947 and then to the former London and North Eastern Railway branch lines to Epping, Ongar and Hainault progressively until 1957.

The Docklands Light Railway opened on 31 August 1987 reusing redundant rail routes through the Bow and Poplar areas to reach the new Docklands developments on the Isle of Dogs.

The low-level station was substantially rebuilt in the late 1990s as part of the Jubilee Line Extension works, with a large new steel and glass building designed by Wilkinson Eyre that encloses much of the low-level station, and a new ticket hall. The old ticket hall, at the eastern end of the station and connected via a subway, has since been demolished. The Jubilee Line opened to passengers on 14 May 1999 as far as North Greenwich station, and to Green Park and Stanmore in November 1999.^[10]

With the great increase in services and passengers since the Second World War, Stratford has changed from a fairly busy junction into one of Britain's major rail interchanges. Growth is set to continue in the future with the opening of the Crossrail line across London and the nearby Stratford International station.

Station layout

High-level platforms

The high-level platforms run at right angles to the low-level, roughly east-west. The lines to the old platforms 1 & 2 pass beneath the high-level station. Access from the main station entrance is via a subway; a second subway links the Jubilee line platforms directly to platforms 3–10. A third subway, which served the old entrance to the station, re-opened in September 2010^[11]

• Platforms 1 & 2: On 15 April 2009 the North London Line platforms at Stratford moved to new high-level platforms 1 & 2 from the old low-level platforms 1 & 2, the latter being made available for the DLR's Stratford International service (opened on 31 August 2011). Platforms 1 and 2 comprise an island platform with step-free links to platform 12 and the subway linking to platforms 3 to 11.^[12] The platforms can accommodate trains with up to 6 cars, though at present, due to short platforms elsewhere, 4-car trains are used. It had originally been planned to make this change on 2 January 2009 but it was delayed.^[13] Note: During the planning of these new platforms they were shown on plans as 12a and 12b.

• Platforms 3, 3A & 6 are used by Central line trains, which rise from their tunnels into the open air here and immediately descend back underground afterwards. Platforms 3 & 6 are 'island' platforms providing easy cross-platform interchange with National Rail services operating from platforms 5 and 8 respectively (see below), while platform 3a has a direct step-free connection at mezzanine level, facilitating easier interchange with Jubilee line trains on platforms 13-15 and Docklands Light Railway trains on platforms 4a & 4b. Westbound Central line trains travelling towards London Liverpool Street Station and Central London open their doors on both sides, so that passengers can alight and board trains from either side, reducing dwell times and peak-hour congestion in the passageways.

• Platforms 4 & 7 are abandoned. When the London to Shenfield line was electrified in the 1940s, there was an intention to run a shuttle service from Fenchurch Street to Stratford, calling at Stepney and Bow Road, which would have terminated at these bay platforms. However, this service was never introduced (despite all the works required being carried out). In the 1980s platform 4 was used as the terminus of the Docklands Light Railway while platform 7 remained abandoned. In 2007 platform 4 was abandoned again as the DLR moved to two new platforms to the south of platform 4.

• Platforms 4A & 4B are used by the Docklands Light Railway for services to Canary Wharf, Greenwich and Lewisham. They consist of a single island platform with two faces, numbered 4a and 4b.

• Platforms 5 & 8 are used by National Express East Anglia (NXEA) services on the slow lines out of London Liverpool Street. These are mostly the 'Shenfield metro' services to Shenfield, but during the off-peak they are also used by trains to Southend Victoria. Two late-night c2c trains pass through the station each day on the way from Liverpool Street to Barking and vice versa. c2c also pass through when there are engineering works between Barking & London Fenchurch Street. Cross-platform interchange is available with Central line services running from platforms 3 and 6 respectively (see above).

• Platforms 9, 10 & 10a are used by NXEA services on the fast lines out of London Liverpool Street towards Norwich and destinations served by branches off the Great Eastern Main Line, e.g. Clacton-on-Sea, Braintree, and Southend. Originally there were only two platforms here, but in the 1990s the station buildings on Platform 9 were demolished to make an island platform with faces on both sides. The new face became 9, the old 9 became 10 and the old 10 became 10a. Platform 10a is now rarely used because of its inconvenient location, accessible from only one of the two open station subways.

• Platforms 11 & 12 have been used since December 2005 for NXEA services to Broxbourne, Bishop's Stortford and Stansted Airport. There is a half-hourly service in the peak hours, hourly off-peak and at weekends. Most services use platform 12, since trains cannot terminate and reverse direction in platform 11.

Low-level platforms

These platforms are at ground level and run north-south. Platforms 13-16 are served by a footbridge (with lifts and escalators) from the main station entrance, while platform 17 adjoins directly on to the main station concourse.

• Platforms 13–15 were built in the late 1990s to serve the Jubilee line when it was extended here in 1999. All three are bay platforms.^[14] A footbridge joins the platforms at the south end, away from the main station building.

• Platforms 16 & 17 originally served trains from Palace Gates (near Alexandra Palace) to North Woolwich, a service which no longer operates. In the 1980s, trains from Richmond to Broad Street were diverted to run via these platforms to North Woolwich. Following the closure of the line to North Woolwich on 9 December 2006, these platforms effectively became a terminus, with trains heading west only, towards Richmond. However, they also left the station at its south end to reverse, so both platforms were used. On 14 April 2009 these platforms, originally numbered 1 and 2, closed and the North London Line service moved to the current platforms 1 and 2, which are in the high-level part of the station and have step-free access. The old platforms are now in use by DLR services, platform 16 is for Northbound trains to Stratford International and platform 17 is for Southbound trains to Beckton during off-peak times and Woolwich Arsenal during peak times.^[12][15] The new platforms have also been built with a reversing siding immediately south of the platforms, accessible from both running lines. This enables trains from Stratford International to terminate at the station, and trains from Canning Town to also terminate here. There is also a crossover immediately north of the platforms, allowing trains from the southbound platform to reverse onto the northbound line back to Stratford International.

Stratford International

The nearby Stratford International station opened on 30 November 2009 (for preview services only). Since 13 December 2009 Southeastern began its full domestic high-speed service between London St Pancras, and Kent. The Docklands Light Railway 'Stratford International' extension has provided a link between the two stations since 31 August 2011.^[16] There is also a walking route between the two stations passing through the newly built Westfield Stratford City Shopping Centre.

Despite Stratford International's name, no international trains call there, and Eurostar (currently the only international operator) has no plans to do so. However, there are a number of other potential operators that may use the station for international services. These include Deutsche Bahn's proposed London-Frankfurt/Amsterdam service^[17] and the proposed "Transmanche Metro" service to Calais via local stations.^[18]

Service patterns

The typical off-peak service per hour (tph) from Stratford is as follows:

Electrification

All lines at Stratford are electrified, although a few passenger and freight services which pass through this station are hauled by diesel locomotives. At one time there were four different systems of electrification in use, a record for any station in London. However, since the diversion of the North London Line from the low-level to the new high-level platforms these trains have changed the electrical system they use while at this station. The remaining systems used are:

• 25 kV 50 Hz overhead on Network Rail lines (high level)
• 630 V dc fourth rail on London Underground Central and Jubilee lines
• 750 V dc bottom-contact conductor rail on Docklands Light Railway

• Since April 2009, 750 V dc third rail is no longer used at this station. This was used for the London Overground (low level) North London Line services.

In 1949 the Great Eastern Main Line through Stratford was electrified at 1500 V dc overhead before being converted to 6.25 kV AC 50 Hz overhead in 1960 and converted again in about 1976 to 25 kV.^[19]

Stratford City

In preparation for the Olympics and the Stratford City development, a new north-facing exit and ticket hall has been built. Both existing passenger subways have been extended north to connect with the ticket hall, and the abandoned subway at the eastern end of the station, which formed part of the old station complex, has been reopened and refurbished to allow interchange between platforms 3-12 and the new high-level platforms 1 & 2.^[20] A new pedestrian bridge has also been built to connect Stratford shopping centre with the Stratford City development. This also connects the mezzanine-level ticket hall with the northern one. The northern ticket hall and the footbridge opened along with the Westfield shopping centre at Stratford City on 13 September 2011.

Future

The National Express East Anglia service north to Tottenham Hale may see a re-opened station at Lea Bridge. This is not likely to take place until after the 2012 Olympics. However, NXEA will most likely not be operating for the Olympics as they will cease operations in February.^[21]

The station will also become a major interchange for Crossrail services, due to commence in 2018.^[22] This would mean that Stratford would be directly linked to Heathrow Airport, Maidenhead and possibly Reading.

Gallery

Services

Other transport links

Stratford station also has a major bus interchange, completed in November 1994. Bus routes 25, 69, 86, 104, 108, 158, 238, 241, 257, 262, 276, 308, 425, 473, 678, D8, N8 and N86 serve the station, and additionally routes 97 and 339 serve Stratford City from September 2011^[23][24][25] All routes mentioned are operated as part of the Transport for London, London Buses network. These are operated by three main bus operators which are East London, First London and Go-Ahead London. Transport for London owns and manages the bus station, while National Express Coaches routes 010 to Cambridge and A9 to London Stansted Airport also serve.

References

External links

• Excel file displaying National Rail station usage information for 2005/06

• Train times and station information for Stratford station from National Rail
• Docklands Light Railway website - Stratford station page
• Diagram showing planned platform layout of Stratford Station
• Diagram showing planned subway layout of Stratford Station
• More photographs of Stratford station
• DLR Project Updates at Stratford Station