Wapping railway station

Wapping railway station is on the northern bank of the river Thames in Wapping, East London, England. It is in Zone 2, and on the East London Line of London Overground between Shadwell and Rotherhithe.^{[note 1]}

After recent temporary closures for remodelling, the station reopened for preview services on 27 April 2010 for services to New Cross and New Cross Gate, and from 23 May 2010 trains to/from New Cross Gate were extended to West Croydon / Crystal Palace.^[3]

History

The station occupies the north end of the former Thames foot tunnel built by Marc Isambard Brunel between 1825-1843, and subsequently adapted for railway traffic. Access to the station is by lift or a flight of stairs built into one of the original access shafts of the Thames Tunnel.^{[note 2]}

The station was originally opened as the northern terminus of the East London Railway^{[note 3]} on 7 December 1869 as Wapping and Shadwell, and the station was renamed Wapping on 10 April 1876,^{[note 4]} when the line was extended northwards to Liverpool Street,^{[note 3]} via a new station at Shadwell. The earliest trains were provided by the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway, whose system connected with the line at New Cross Gate.^{[4][note 3]} Underground trains of the Metropolitan and the Metropolitan District Railways first served the station on 1 October 1884,^{[note 5]} but the station was last served by District trains on 31 July 1905.^{[note 5][note 6]}

The station was extensively remodelled between 1995 and 1998, when the entire East London Line - including Wapping station - was closed due to repair work on the East London Line's Thames Tunnel.

London Overground

The East London Line closed on 22 December 2007, and reopened on 27 April 2010 when it became part of the new London Overground system. During this time the station was heavily refurbished.

The proposed extension of the East London Line raised concerns that the station would have to be closed due to its platforms being too short (only 4 cars long) to accommodate the new rolling stock planned for the extended line (which could be 6 or 8 cars long). However, on 16 August 2004 then-Mayor of London Ken Livingstone announced that the station would remain open.^[5]

Services

All times below are correct as of the December 2010 timetables.

London Overground

East London Line

Mondays to Saturdays there is a service every 5-10 minutes throughout the day, while on Sundays before 13:00 there is a service every 5-9 minutes, changing to every 7-8 minutes until the end of service after that.^[6] Current off peak frequency is:

• 8 Northbound to Highbury & Islington
• 4 Northbound to Dalston Junction
• 4 Southbound to West Croydon
• 4 Southbound to Crystal Palace
• 4 Southbound to New Cross

From 2012, 4 additional trains per hour will go to Clapham Junction via Peckham Rye on the new Clapham Junction Extension, due to open in May that year.

Transport Links

Bus routes 100 and D3 serve the station.

Gallery

Lines

References

• Baker, S.K. (April 2007) [1977]. Rail Atlas Great Britain & Ireland (11th ed.). Hersham: Oxford Publishing Co. ISBN 978 0 86093 602 2. 0704/K. 
• Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1 85260 508 1. R508. 
• Day, John R. (1979) [1963]. The Story of London's Underground (6th ed.). Westminster: London Transport. ISBN 0 85329 094 6. 1178/211RP/5M(A). 
• Rose, Douglas (December 2007) [1980]. The London Underground: A Diagrammatic History (8th ed.). Harrow Weald: Capital Transport. ISBN 978 1 85414 315 0.