Eastern Counties and Thames Junction Railway
Encyclopedia
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 in turn amalgamated with other railways to form the Great Eastern Railway
in 1862.
to Canning Town
, to transport coal to the mouth of Bow Creek
. A year later it was extended to North Woolwich
via West Silvertown, allowing connections with the Woolwich Ferry
; the same year it was taken over by the Eastern Counties Railway
.
The original line went south, but when the Royal Victoria Dock
opened in 1855 the line between Canning Town and North Woolwich had to be equipped with a swingbridge over the entrance to the dock, which slowed down journey times. In response, the line was rerouted north of the dock through two new stations, at Custom House
and Tidal Basin
. The south loop 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 new 600 metres (1,968.5 ft) cut and cover Connaught tunnel (aka Silvertown tunnel or Albert Dock tunnel), at the new docks entrance; it emerges on the eastern side just short of the old Tate & Lyle
factory. In 1935, after it was discovered that with larger ships entering the docks that they were scraping the roof of the tunnel, an iron casing was placed along the section which passed under the dock..
Several branches were opened in due course; in 1872 the Gas Light and Coke Company
opened a branch running north-east to Beckton
(not the current site of Beckton DLR station
) to serve its gasworks
there ; in 1880, as the Royal Albert Dock
opened, an extension to Gallions
opened, running due east along the north edge of the dock, all the way to the shore of 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 (Wood Green)
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 gradually became less used over the years.
, as did Tidal Basin station. The line to Beckton reopened only for goods (by-products from the gasworks), finally closing in 1972. The Palace Gates-North Woolwich line continued until 1963, when services were rerouted to Tottenham Hale
, later terminating at Stratford.
In pre-empting the closure of the Broad Street line, in 1979 the diesel service was extended to run on the old North London Railway
via Dalston Kingsland
to Camden Road
. Broad Street railway station
to that point provided the eastern terminus for what was then called the CrossTown LinkLine, today known as the North London Line
.
The start of the renaissance of the line came in 1985, when third rail electrification was extended from Dalston Junction via Stratford to North Woolwich, and electric trains started to run from Richmond through to North Woolwich. The service was however 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 station, through the Connaught Tunnel, was electrified, which restricted the service that could be provided on the easternmost section.
In 2006, all North London line services were withdrawn south of Stratford, and the line was closed.
, 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.
.
Branch from Custom House to Beckton (opened 1872, closed 1972):
Branch from Custom House to Gallions (opened 1874, closed 1940):
Royal Docks
The Royal Docks comprise three docks in east London - the Royal Albert Dock, the Royal Victoria Dock and the King George V Dock. They are more correctly called the Royal Group of Docks to distinguish them from the Royal Dockyards, Royal being due to their naming after royal personages rather than...
with the Eastern Counties Railway
Eastern Counties Railway
The Eastern Counties Railway was an early English railway company incorporated in 1836. It was intended to link London with Ipswich via Colchester, and then on to Norwich and Yarmouth. Construction began in late March 1837 on the first nine miles, at the London end of the line.Construction was...
(ECR). Authorised in 1844, it opened in 1846, and was absorbed by the ECR in 1847. The ECR in turn amalgamated with other railways to form the Great Eastern Railway
Great Eastern Railway
The Great Eastern Railway was a pre-grouping British railway company, whose main line linked London Liverpool Street to Norwich and which had other lines through East Anglia...
in 1862.
History
The EC&TJR opened in 1846, from StratfordStratford 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 . Stratford is in...
to Canning Town
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 and local buses operated for London Buses. It is in Travelcard Zone 3...
, to transport coal to the mouth of Bow Creek
Bow Creek
Bow Creek is a long tidal estuary of the River Lea and is part of the Bow Back Rivers. Below Bow Locks the creek forms the boundary between the London Boroughs of Newham and Tower Hamlets, in east London....
. A year later it was extended to North Woolwich
North Woolwich railway station
North Woolwich railway station in North Woolwich in east London was the eastern terminus of the North London Line. It was in Travelcard Zone 3. The next station was .-History:...
via West Silvertown, allowing connections with the Woolwich Ferry
Woolwich Ferry
The Woolwich Free Ferry is a boat service across the River Thames, London, UK, which is licensed and financed by London River Services, the maritime arm of Transport for London...
; the same year it was taken over by the Eastern Counties Railway
Eastern Counties Railway
The Eastern Counties Railway was an early English railway company incorporated in 1836. It was intended to link London with Ipswich via Colchester, and then on to Norwich and Yarmouth. Construction began in late March 1837 on the first nine miles, at the London end of the line.Construction was...
.
The original line went south, but when the Royal Victoria Dock
Royal Victoria Dock
The Royal Victoria Dock is the largest of three docks in the Royal Docks of east London, now part of the redeveloped Docklands.-History:...
opened in 1855 the line between Canning Town and North Woolwich had to be equipped with a swingbridge over the entrance to the dock, which slowed down journey times. In response, the line was rerouted north of the dock through two new stations, at Custom House
Custom House station
Custom House for ExCeL station is in the Custom House area by the Royal Docks, east London. It is served by the Docklands Light Railway , and is in Travelcard Zone 3...
and Tidal Basin
Tidal Basin railway station
Tidal Basin railway station was a railway station near the Royal Victoria Dock, Canning Town, London, on the Eastern Counties and Thames Junction Railway. It opened in 1857, and was between Canning Town and Custom House stations. The station closed in 1943 after severe bombing damage during the...
. The south loop remained in service for local factories and was renamed the Silvertown Tramway.
After the construction of the Albert Dock
Albert Dock
The Albert Dock is a complex of dock buildings and warehouses in Liverpool, England. Designed by Jesse Hartley and Philip Hardwick, it was opened in 1846, and was the first structure in Britain to be built from cast iron, brick and stone, with no structural wood...
, with the same problem envisaged on the route to Silvertown
Silvertown railway station
Silvertown railway station was a station in Silvertown, east London. It was in Travelcard Zone 3, and located between Custom House and , the eastern terminus of the North London Line until the line closure from Stratford to North Woolwich on 9 December 2006....
, in 1878 the railway built the new 600 metres (1,968.5 ft) cut and cover Connaught tunnel (aka Silvertown tunnel or Albert Dock tunnel), at the new docks entrance; it emerges on the eastern side just short of the old Tate & Lyle
Tate & Lyle
Tate & Lyle plc is a British-based multinational agribusiness. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index as of 20 June 2011...
factory. In 1935, after it was discovered that with larger ships entering the docks that they were scraping the roof of the tunnel, an iron casing was placed along the section which passed under the dock..
Several branches were opened in due course; in 1872 the Gas Light and Coke Company
Gas Light and Coke Company
The Gas Light and Coke Company , was a company that made and supplied coal gas and coke. The Company was located on Horseferry Road in Westminster, London...
opened a branch running north-east to Beckton
Beckton railway station
Beckton railway station was a railway station in Beckton, London, on the Eastern Counties and Thames Junction Railway. It originally opened in 1874 and was owned by the Gas Light and Coke Company, to serve the recently-built Beckton Gas Works. The line was opened for freight in 1872 and to...
(not the current site of Beckton DLR station
Beckton DLR station
Beckton DLR station is the eastern terminus of the Beckton branch of the Docklands Light Railway in the Docklands area of east London. It is located in Travelcard Zone 3. The DLR branch from Poplar was opened on 28 March 1994...
) to serve its gasworks
Beckton Gas Works
Beckton Gas Works was a major London gas works built to manufacture coal gas and other products including coke from coal. It has been variously described as 'the largest such plant in the world' and 'the largest gas works in Europe'. It operated from 1870 to 1969, with an associated by-products...
there ; in 1880, as the Royal Albert Dock
Royal Albert Dock
The Royal Albert Dock is one of three docks in the Royal Group of Docks of east London, now part of the redeveloped Docklands.-History:The dock was constructed to the east of the earlier Victoria Dock by the St Katharine and London dock companies and opened in 1880...
opened, an extension to Gallions
Gallions railway station
Gallions railway station was a station adjoining the River Thames by Gallions Reach, in Beckton, east London, on the Eastern Counties and Thames Junction Railway...
opened, running due east along the north edge of the dock, all the way to the shore of the River Thames
River Thames
The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...
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
Palace Gates Line
The Palace Gates Line was a short railway branch line in north London running from the main line at Seven Sisters station in Tottenham to Palace Gates station in Wood Green....
to Palace Gates (Wood Green)
Palace Gates (Wood Green) railway station
Palace Gates railway station was a railway station on the Palace Gates Line in Wood Green, north London. It was located on the corner of Bridge Road and Dorset Road....
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 gradually became less used over the years.
Demise
The lines to Beckton and Gallions closed after bomb damage during the BlitzThe Blitz
The Blitz was the sustained strategic bombing of Britain by Nazi Germany between 7 September 1940 and 10 May 1941, during the Second World War. The city of London was bombed by the Luftwaffe for 76 consecutive nights and many towns and cities across the country followed...
, as did Tidal Basin station. The line to Beckton reopened only for goods (by-products from the gasworks), finally closing in 1972. The Palace Gates-North Woolwich line continued until 1963, when services were rerouted to Tottenham Hale
Tottenham Hale station
Tottenham Hale, is a National Rail and London Underground Victoria Line station in Tottenham, north London. It is on Hale Road near the Tottenham Hale one-way gyratory system...
, later terminating at Stratford.
In pre-empting the closure of the Broad Street line, in 1979 the diesel service was extended to run on the old North London Railway
North London Railway
The North London Railway was a railway company that opened lines connecting the north of London to the East and West India Docks. The main east to west route is now part the North London Line. Other lines operated by the company fell into disuse, but were later revived as part of the Docklands...
via Dalston Kingsland
Dalston Kingsland railway station
Dalston Kingsland railway station is a railway station on the North London Line in London, England. It is in the Dalston area of the London Borough of Hackney, on the western side of Kingsland High Street and opposite Ridley Road Market. The station and all trains serving it are operated by London...
to Camden Road
Camden Road railway station
Camden Road railway station is in the London Borough of Camden in North London. The station and all trains serving it are operated by London Overground. It is on the North London Line and in Travelcard Zone 2....
. Broad Street railway station
Broad Street railway station
Broad Street railway station was a major terminal station in the City of London, England. It opened in 1865 and closed in 1986. It was the main terminus of the North London Railway network of suburban services and was adjacent to station.-Opening:...
to that point provided the eastern terminus for what was then called the CrossTown LinkLine, today known as the North London Line
North London Line
The North London Line is a railway line which passes through the inner suburbs of north London, England. Its route is a rough semicircle from the south west to the north east, avoiding central London. The line is owned and maintained by Network Rail...
.
The start of the renaissance of the line came in 1985, when third rail electrification was extended from Dalston Junction via Stratford to North Woolwich, and electric trains started to run from Richmond through to North Woolwich. The service was however 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 station, through the Connaught Tunnel, was electrified, which restricted the service that could be provided on the easternmost section.
In 2006, all North London line services were withdrawn south of Stratford, and the line was closed.
London Underground Jubilee Line
The Jubilee Line of the 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.Docklands Light Railway
Part of the line between Custom House and Gallions was later redeveloped as the Beckton branch of the Docklands Light RailwayDocklands Light Railway
The Docklands Light Railway is an automated light metro or light rail system opened on 31 August 1987 to serve the redeveloped Docklands area of London...
, 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
King George V DLR station
King George V DLR station is a station on the Docklands Light Railway which opened on 2 December 2005 and named after King George V Dock, nearby. The station is in the London Borough of Newham and is located in Travelcard Zone 3. Station and on-train announcements refer to the station as 'King...
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
Stratford International station
Stratford International station is a main line railway and Docklands Light Railway station located in Stratford in the London Borough of Newham in northeast London, United Kingdom...
branch of the DLR, which opened in September 2011.
Crossrail
The Custom House to North Woolwich section, including a £50M investment to renovate and reuse the Connaught tunnel, is presently being redeveloped by Vinci to be used by CrossrailCrossrail
Crossrail is a project to build a major new railway link under central London. The name refers to the first of two routes which are the responsibility of Crossrail Ltd. It is based on an entirely new east-west tunnel with a central section from to Liverpool Street station...
.
Stations
Main line (opened 1846):- Stratford
- Stratford Market (opened as Stratford Bridge, closed 1957)
- Canning TownCanning Town stationCanning 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 and local buses operated for London Buses. It is in Travelcard Zone 3...
- Tidal BasinTidal Basin railway stationTidal Basin railway station was a railway station near the Royal Victoria Dock, Canning Town, London, on the Eastern Counties and Thames Junction Railway. It opened in 1857, and was between Canning Town and Custom House stations. The station closed in 1943 after severe bombing damage during the...
(opened 1858, closed 1943) - Custom HouseCustom House stationCustom House for ExCeL station is in the Custom House area by the Royal Docks, east London. It is served by the Docklands Light Railway , and is in Travelcard Zone 3...
(opened 1855) - SilvertownSilvertown railway stationSilvertown railway station was a station in Silvertown, east London. It was in Travelcard Zone 3, and located between Custom House and , the eastern terminus of the North London Line until the line closure from Stratford to North Woolwich on 9 December 2006....
(opened 1863, closed 2006) - North WoolwichNorth Woolwich railway stationNorth Woolwich railway station in North Woolwich in east London was the eastern terminus of the North London Line. It was in Travelcard Zone 3. The next station was .-History:...
(closed 2006)
Branch from Custom House to Beckton (opened 1872, closed 1972):
- BecktonBeckton railway stationBeckton railway station was a railway station in Beckton, London, on the Eastern Counties and Thames Junction Railway. It originally opened in 1874 and was owned by the Gas Light and Coke Company, to serve the recently-built Beckton Gas Works. The line was opened for freight in 1872 and to...
Branch from Custom House to Gallions (opened 1874, closed 1940):
- Connaught RoadConnaught Road railway stationConnaught Road railway station was a station located on Connaught Road, north of the channel joining the Royal Victoria and Royal Albert Docks in east London, on the Eastern Counties and Thames Junction Railway...
- CentralCentral railway station (London)Central railway station was near the Royal Albert Dock and Beckton Park in London, on the Eastern Counties and Thames Junction Railway between Connaught Road and Manor Way on the Gallions branch. It opened on August 3, 1880,...
- Manor WayManor Way railway stationManor Way railway station was a railway station located on the East Ham Manor Way, south of Beckton in east London, on the Eastern Counties and Thames Junction Railway...
- GallionsGallions railway stationGallions railway station was a station adjoining the River Thames by Gallions Reach, in Beckton, east London, on the Eastern Counties and Thames Junction Railway...