| Overview | |
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| Dates of operation | 1846–1862 |
| Successor | Great Eastern Railway |
Eastern Counties and Thames Junction Railway | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eastern Counties and Thames Junction Railway in east London connected the Royal Docks with the Eastern Counties Railway (ECR). Authorised in 1844, it opened in 1846, and was absorbed by the ECR in 1847. The ECR amalgamated with other railways to form the Great Eastern Railway in 1862. [1] [2] [ contradictory ]
The EC&TJR was incorporated on 4 July 1844. It opened on 29 April 1846 [3] from Stratford to Bow Creek [4] to transport coal from a pier on the mouth of the River Lea. A year later it was extended to North Woolwich via Silvertown, allowing connections with the Woolwich Ferry; the same year it was taken over by the North London Railway. [5] [ contradictory ]
When the Royal Victoria Dock opened in 1855 the line between Canning Town and North Woolwich had to have a swingbridge over the entrance to the dock, which increased journey times. In response, the line was rerouted north of the dock through two new stations, at Custom House and Tidal Basin. The southern line remained in service for local factories and was renamed the Silvertown Tramway.
After the construction of the Albert Dock, with the same problem envisaged on the route to Silvertown, in 1878 the railway built the 600 m (2,000 ft) cut and cover Connaught Tunnel (also known as the Silvertown Tunnel or Albert Dock Tunnel), at the new dock's entrance; it emerges on the eastern side just short of the old Tate & Lyle factory. In 1935, after it was discovered that larger ships entering the docks were scraping the roof of the tunnel, an iron casing was placed along the section under the dock. [6]
In 1872 the Gas Light and Coke Company opened a branch running north-east to Beckton (not the site of Beckton DLR station) to serve its gasworks; [7] in 1880, as the Royal Albert Dock opened, a branch line to Gallions was opened by the London & St Katherine Dock Company, which ran due east along the north edge of the dock to the River Thames on the far side of the dock. Both of these branches left the main line at Custom House. At the same time, the line was connected to the Palace Gates Line to Palace Gates in North London, and regular services between North Woolwich and Palace Gates operated. The line was quadrupled between Stratford Market and Tidal Basin in stages by 1892, though the western pair of tracks became less used over the years.
The lines to Beckton and Gallions closed after bomb damage during the Blitz, as did Tidal Basin station. The line to Beckton reopened for goods (by-products from the gasworks), closing in 1972. [7] The Palace Gates-North Woolwich line continued until 1963, when services were rerouted to Tottenham Hale, later terminating at Stratford.
In 1979 the diesel service from North Woolwich to Stratford was diverted via the old North London Railway via Dalston Kingsland to Camden Road and marketed as the Crosstown Linkline, a predecessor of the North London Line. In 1985 third rail electrification was extended from Dalston via Stratford to North Woolwich, and electric trains started to run through from Richmond. The service was never as popular south of Stratford as on the rest of this route, and as services were enhanced from the original frequency the extra trains were terminated at Stratford. Part of the reason for this was that only one track beyond Custom House through the Connaught Tunnel was electrified, which restricted the service that could be provided on the easternmost section.
The Jubilee Line Extension of the London Underground was built along the alignment of the former western tracks from Canning Town to Stratford, and opened in 1999. This took much of the remaining traffic from the line south of Stratford.
Part of the line between Custom House and Gallions was redeveloped as the Beckton branch of the Docklands Light Railway, as was a short section of the Beckton line between Woolwich Manor Way and the new Royal Docks Road.
With opening of the King George V branch of the DLR, the North London Line between Stratford and North Woolwich closed in December 2006. The stretch between Canning Town and Stratford was converted to become the Stratford International branch of the DLR, which opened in September 2011.
The Custom House to North Woolwich section of the railway, including the Connaught tunnel, has been reused as part of the Elizabeth line. [8] [9]
Main line (opened 1846):
Branch from Custom House to Beckton (opened 1872, closed 1972):
Branch from Custom House to Gallions (opened 1874, closed 1940):
The Docklands Light Railway (DLR) is an automated light metro system primarily serving the redeveloped Docklands area of London and providing a direct connection between London's two major financial districts, Canary Wharf and the City of London. First opened on 31 August 1987, the DLR has been extended multiple times, giving a total route length of 38 km. Lines now reach north to Stratford, south to Lewisham, west to Tower Gateway and Bank in the City of London financial district, and east to Beckton, London City Airport and Woolwich Arsenal. Further extensions are being considered.
The London Borough of Newham is a London borough created in 1965 by the London Government Act 1963. It covers an area previously administered by the Essex county boroughs of West Ham and East Ham, authorities that were both abolished by the same act. The name Newham reflects its creation and combines the compass points of the old borough names. Situated in the Inner London part of East London, Newham has a population of 387,576, which is the third highest of the London boroughs and also makes it the 16th most populous district in England. The local authority is Newham London Borough Council.
The North London line (NLL) is a railway line which passes through the inner suburbs of west, north-west, north, and north-east London, England between Richmond in the south-west and Stratford in the east, avoiding central London. Its route is a rough semicircle.
Canning Town is an interchange station located in Canning Town, London for London Underground, Docklands Light Railway (DLR) and London Buses services.
North Woolwich is an area in the London Borough of Newham in East London, England, on the northern bank of the River Thames, across the river from Woolwich. It is connected to Woolwich by the Woolwich Ferry and Woolwich foot tunnel.
Custom House is an interchange station by the Royal Docks, in Custom House in the London Borough of Newham, London for Docklands Light Railway (DLR) – on which it is branded Custom House for ExCeL – and Elizabeth line services. It is situated in Travelcard Zone 3.
Royal Docks is an area and a ward in the London Borough of Newham in the London Docklands in East London, England.
Beckton is the eastern terminus of the Beckton branch of the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) in the Docklands area of east London. It is in Travelcard Zone 3.
Poplar is a Docklands Light Railway (DLR) station in Poplar in London, England. Poplar is a cross-platform interchange station for three of the six lines on the DLR making it one of the busiest stations on the network in terms of services. It is also nearby the Canary Wharf Station on Crossrail's Elizabeth Line.
Royal Victoria DLR station is on the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) in Canning Town, east London. The station opened in 1994 and is named after the nearby Royal Victoria Dock. It is on the DLR's Beckton branch, in Travelcard Zone 3, and is the nearest station for the northern terminus of the IFS Cloud Cable Car and for London's new City Hall.
Beckton is a suburb in east London, England, located 8 miles (12.9 km) east of Charing Cross and part of the London Borough of Newham. Adjacent to the River Thames, the area consisted of unpopulated marshland known as the East Ham Levels in the parishes of Barking, East Ham, West Ham and Woolwich. The development of major industrial infrastructure in the 19th century to support the growing metropolis of London caused an increase in population with housing built in the area for workers of the Beckton Gas Works and Beckton Sewage Treatment Works. The area has a convoluted local government history and has formed part of Greater London since 1965. Between 1981 and 1995 it was within the London Docklands Development Corporation area, which caused the population to increase as new homes were built and the Docklands Light Railway was constructed.
Silvertown railway station was on the North London Line (NLL) serving the Silvertown area of east London, the station and the eastern section of the line it was on were closed in 2006. It was situated between Custom House and North Woolwich, the eastern terminus of the line.
Pontoon Dock is a station on the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) in Silvertown in east London, which is on the Woolwich Arsenal branch, opened on 2 December 2005. It is located in the east of Silvertown in the London Borough of Newham, in the redevelopment zone known as Silvertown Quays, and is in Travelcard Zone 3.
The A1011 is a road in East London, England which links Stratford with Canning Town, and Silvertown.
Connaught Road was a railway station in east London that was opened by the London & St. Katharine Docks Company on 3 August 1880. It was located on Connaught Road, north of the channel joining the Royal Victoria Dock and Royal Albert Dock.
Gallions was the name of two distinct railway stations that adjoined the River Thames by Gallions Reach in Beckton, east London.
North Woolwich railway station in North Woolwich in east London was the eastern terminus of the North London Line. The station closed in 2006, to allow for the North London line between Stratford and Canning Town to be converted to Docklands Light Railway (DLR) operation. The local area is now served by the nearby King George V DLR station. The historic station building was Grade II-listed in 1998.
The Royal Docks Heritage Railway, endorsed in 2006 by Newham London Borough Council, was proposed to open during 2007, taking over the North Woolwich Old Station Museum and the closed section of the North London Line between Custom House and North Woolwich railway stations. Rather than concentrating on the Great Eastern Railway, it would have shown the heritage of local and suburban National Rail lines in London and the south east.
The Docklands Light Railway extension to Thamesmead is a proposed Docklands Light Railway (DLR) extension to serve the Beckton Riverside and Thamesmead redevelopment areas of East London.
