Barking Railway Station
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Barking is an
interchange station An interchange station or a transfer station is a train station for more than one railway route in a public transport system that allows passengers to change from one route to another, often without having to leave a station or pay an additional ...
serving the town of
Barking Barking may refer to: Places * Barking, London, a town in East London, England ** London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, a local government district covering the town of Barking ** Municipal Borough of Barking, a historical local government dist ...
, east London. It is served by
London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent ceremonial counties of England, counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and He ...
,
London Overground London Overground (also known simply as the Overground) is a Urban rail in the United Kingdom, suburban rail network serving London and its environs. Established in 2007 to take over Silverlink Metro routes, (via archive.org). it now serves a ...
and
National Rail National Rail (NR) is the trading name licensed for use by the Rail Delivery Group, an unincorporated association whose membership consists of the passenger train operating companies (TOCs) of England, Scotland, and Wales. The TOCs run the p ...
main line services. It is located on Station Parade, in the town centre. On the Underground it is a stop on the
District line The District line is a London Underground line running from in the east and Edgware Road in the west to in west London, where it splits into multiple branches. One branch runs to in south-west London and a short branch, with a limited servic ...
and is also the eastern terminus of the
Hammersmith & City line The Hammersmith & City line is a London Underground line that runs between Hammersmith in west London and in east London. Printed in pink on the Tube map, it serves 29 stations over . Between and it skirts the City of London, the capital's fin ...
; on the National Rail network it is served by
c2c Trenitalia c2c Limited,Companies House extract company no 789726 ...
services operating to and from ; and on the Overground it is the former eastern terminus of the Gospel Oak to Barking line, which has now been extended to . There is also interchange with
London Buses London Buses is the subsidiary of Transport for London (TfL) that manages most bus services in London, England. It was formed following the Greater London Authority Act 1999 that transferred control of London Regional Transport (LRT) bus se ...
and
East London Transit East London Transit (ELT) is a part-segregated bus rapid transit, operated as part of the London Buses network. The East London Transit opened in phases between 2010 and 2013. The scheme for this system was developed by Transport for London to ...
routes on the station frontage. The Underground station is the busiest in the network outside of Zones 1 and 2. The station was opened in 1854 by the
London, Tilbury and Southend Railway The London, Tilbury and Southend Railway (LT&SR), was a British railway company, whose network connected Fenchurch Street railway station, Fenchurch Street station, in central London, with destinations in east London and Essex, including , , , T ...
as one of the first stations on the route. It was rebuilt in 1908 and again in 1959. , significant redevelopment of the station is currently proposed by
Barking and Dagenham London Borough Council Barking and Dagenham London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in London, the capital of the United Kingdom. It provides a b ...
and the
Department for Transport The Department for Transport (DfT) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland that have not been devolved. The d ...
.


History


Pre-grouping (1854–1922)

The station was opened as part of the
London Tilbury & Southend Railway The London, Tilbury and Southend Railway (LT&SR), was a British railway company, whose network connected Fenchurch Street station, in central London, with destinations in east London and Essex, including , , , Tilbury, Southend and . The company ...
(LT&SR)’s new line which left the Eastern Counties Railway's (ECR) main line at a new junction at Forest Gate. Two separate LT&SR trains from London started at Fenchurch Street and
Shoreditch Shoreditch is a district in the East End of London in England, and forms the southern part of the London Borough of Hackney. Neighbouring parts of Tower Hamlets are also perceived as part of the area. In the 16th century, Shoreditch was an impor ...
and were combined at Stratford for the journey to Tilbury (and split at Stratford in the opposite direction). Barking at this time was a small village and the original station was a two platformed affair which opened on 13 April 1854. Congestion at Stratford and deteriorating relationships between the lessees running the LT&SR and the Eastern Counties Railway saw a new route built between Barking and Gas Factory Junction where the new route joined the
London & Blackwall Extension Railway Originally called the Commercial Railway, the London and Blackwall Railway (L&BR) in east London, England, ran from Minories to Blackwall via Stepney, with a branch line to the Isle of Dogs, connecting central London to many of London's docks. ...
, opening in 1858. Other than a new junction west of Barking (and west of the River Roding bridge) no changes were made at Barking and the original Forest Gate Junction section was then used by a goods trains and a rump Bishopsgate to Barking service operated by the ECR and after 1862 by the
Great Eastern Railway The Great Eastern Railway (GER) was a pre-grouping British railway company, whose main line linked London Liverpool Street to Norwich and which had other lines through East Anglia. The company was grouped into the London and North Eastern R ...
. Between the River Roding and the station there was a level crossing at Tanner Street and one on East Street at the east end of the station. Around 1860 some coal sidings were laid on the south side of the line west of the station. The new Pitsea direct route opened in stages first to Upminster (1885), East Horndon (1886) and finally joining the existing Southend route at Pitsea in 1888. A new junction was provided 200 yards east of Barking station and this was controlled by a new signal box called Barking East Junction. The former Barking Junction box to the west was renamed Barking West Junction. This station lasted until the 1880s when increasing passenger and goods traffic as well as issues with the level crossings at Barking (which was expanding) meant something needed to be done.


1889 rebuilding

The changes for the 1889 rebuilding were: * An additional through platform on the down side of the station to allow the GE Liverpool Street service to run round away from the through platforms. * The two existing platforms were extended to accommodate longer trains * An up bay platform for departing services only * New station building * New cattle dock No changes were made to level crossing arrangements despite increasing usage, although a number of minor foot crossings were closed in 1900/1901. The rebuilding was in advance of the arrival in Barking of services from the Tottenham and Forest Gate Railway (T&FGR) which opened in July 1894. Although a joint venture between the LT&SR and Midland Railway the majority of the services were operated by the latter company.


Developments 1902–1908

Around the turn of the century
Barking Town Urban District Council Barking was a local government district, and later civil parish and borough, in southwest Essex, England from 1882 to 1965. It was known as Barking Town from 1882 to 1931. The district included the town of Barking, eastern Beckton and the southwes ...
were seriously concerned about the amount of time that East Street Gates were closed to road traffic. In 1902 the LT&SR made some minor changes to the signalling arrangements which helped and these were a prelude to further changes in the area. A new bridge over the River Roding was opened in 1900 and the original river bridge was replaced in 1903. The new scheme saw the Great Eastern/T&FGR trains operating over the northern lines and the LT&SR trains on the southern lines. At the same time, the Whitechapel and Bow Railway (a joint LT&SR/District Railway venture) was being built and when it opened, frequent District Line trains worked through to East Ham with a few extended through to Upminster. All trains were steam operated at this time. The downturn in LT&SR performance (and the upturn in Southend commuter traffic) saw the line from Bromley to East Ham quadrupled and electrified with electric District Line services terminating at East Ham from 1905. The
Little Ilford Little Ilford is a district of London, England in the London Borough of Newham and the name of a ward in that borough. Little Ilford is now usually referred to as Manor Park.'Little Ilford', in A History of the County of Essex: Volume 6, ed. W ...
area to the west of the Rover Roding, was developed between 1902 and 1908 and additional tracks extended to Barking (so there were now three pairs of tracks across the River Roding). The District Line electric services were now extended from East Ham and terminated at Barking (although a few steam worked District Line services worked through to Southend). By this time, the LT&SR, which had previously been resistant to closing the level crossing on East Street finally saw the need for a bridge and this was a key part of the rebuild. The station itself now consisted of eight platforms which by use were: There was also an Up Rippleside Loop line for goods traffic and the goods yard was rebuilt west of the station. Full District Line electric services to Barking commenced on 1 April 1908 and platforms 2 and 3 were electrified in 1911. The following year in 1912 the LT&SR was taken over by the Midland Railway and following the 1921 Grouping Act that became part of the
London, Midland and Scottish Railway The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSIt has been argued that the initials LMSR should be used to be consistent with LNER, GWR and SR. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway's corporate image used LMS, and this is what is generally u ...
.


London Midland & Scottish Railway (1923–1947)

The LMS and District Railway looked at an electrified extension to Upminster which involved new stations and an additional set of tracks with some changes to the east end of Barking station. The new section opened on 12 September 1932 and four years later the Metropolitan line started operating through Barking to Upminster as well. During the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
Barking station was damaged by bombs in the blitz. Main incidents included:


British Railways (1948–1994)

On 1 January 1948, the railways were nationalised and Barking became a London Midland Region station for a brief period before transferring, along with the rest of the former LTS lines, to the Eastern Region on 20 February 1949. In the early 1950s a major programme of works for the whole LTS line was developed consisting of: * Electrification and re-signalling of the LTSR * complete operational separation of the LTSR and District Line * Simplification of freight operations centred on at Ripple Lane Marshalling Yard * The rebuilding of Barking Station with a flyover for freight trains and cross platform interchange between underground and Southend line services. In order to improve the passenger interchange between District Line and British Rail (and vice versa) dive-under lines were provided at the west end of Barking and a second flyover at the east end. This work was delivered in the late 1950s and early 1960s and from June 1962 all passenger services were worked by Class 302 Electric Multiple Units. The station booking hall was completely rebuilt between 1959–61 to designs by architect H.H. Powell with Project architect John Ward of British Railways Eastern Region Architect's Department.
Nikolaus Pevsner Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''The Buildings of England'' (1 ...
stated it was "erected to coincide with electrification of the railway" and that "it is commensurately modern in outlook and unquestionably one of the best English stations of this date". The station was reopened by
the Queen In the English-speaking world, The Queen most commonly refers to: * Elizabeth II (1926–2022), Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 1952 until her death The Queen may also refer to: * Camilla, Queen Consort (born 1947), ...
in 1961. It is now a
Grade II listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
. After the work was completed, the platforms at Barking were: The LTS line and Barking station became part of the London and South Eastern sector of British Rail in 1982 and in June 1986 this was rebranded as
Network South East Network SouthEast (NSE) was one of the three passenger sectors of British Rail created in 1982. NSE mainly operated commuter rail trains within Greater London and inter-urban services in densely populated South East England, although the networ ...
(NSE). With the Conservative government of the early 1990s looking to privatise the railways the operation of the NSE passenger train service was put under the control of a Train Operating Unit.


The privatisation era (1994–present)

The LTS line was privatised in May 1996 with a new company called LTS Rail (owned by Prism Rail) taking over operations of the services through Barking station. The owners of Prism Rail were bought out by National Express in 2000 and the line re-branded C2C. C2C were later bought out by Tren Italia who run the station today. The infrastructure was initially run by
Railtrack Railtrack was a group of companies that owned the track, signalling, tunnels, bridges, level crossings and all but a handful of the stations of the British railway system from 1994 until 2002. It was created as part of the privatisation of ...
from 1994 but that company failed and was rescued by the government in 2001. A new company called Network Rail was formed to maintain the infrastructure.


Accidents and incidents

*In November 1923, a locomotive crashed through buffers at Barking and overturned, overhanging the road below.


Design

The station has four sets of stairs from the platforms to the overbridge and the booking hall. Four ramps connected by a subway give step free access between all the platforms. The stairs/ramps access platforms: 1 and 1a, 2, 3 & 4, 5 & 6, and 7 & 8. There is a lift between the booking hall and platforms 1 and 1a. This station has two bay platforms (no 1 and 3). Platform 1 was the terminal platform for the Gospel Oak to Barking Line, before the line's extension to Barking Riverside, and only used to be used by
London Overground London Overground (also known simply as the Overground) is a Urban rail in the United Kingdom, suburban rail network serving London and its environs. Established in 2007 to take over Silverlink Metro routes, (via archive.org). it now serves a ...
services. It was electrified in 2017 ready for the planned introduction of electric trains in 2018. Platform 3 is used by some LU trains on both lines that serve the station, but mainly the District line. The ticket office is managed by c2c and has seven serving windows.
TRIBUTE A tribute (; from Latin ''tributum'', "contribution") is wealth, often in kind, that a party gives to another as a sign of submission, allegiance or respect. Various ancient states exacted tribute from the rulers of land which the state conqu ...
and FasTIS ticket machines are in use. Tickets are available for National Rail, as well as
London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent ceremonial counties of England, counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and He ...
.
Oyster Card The Oyster card is a payment method for public transport in London (and certain areas around it) in England, United Kingdom. A standard Oyster card is a blue credit-card-sized stored-value contactless smart card. It is promoted by Transport ...
s can also be issued at the ticket office. There are four Scheidt and Bachman ticket machines, which can issue tickets ordered on line (Tickets on Demand or 'TOD'). The S&B machines sell Oyster products. The four
Shere Fastticket The Atos Worldline FASTticket system is a passenger-operated, self-service railway ticket issuing system, developed by the Guildford-based company Shere Ltd and first introduced on a trial basis in Britain in 1996, shortly after privatisation. ...
machines still on site as at 25 April 2018 have been taken out of service with effect from 1 April 2018, according to a sign posted on them. Seven ticket barriers and a wide ticket gate control access to all platforms. There are sidings to the east which were built to accommodate D stock, C stock and S stock, though from 2017 only S stock is in service on the route. To the west of the station there are two railway overbridges. The westernmost carries the NR tracks to and from platforms 7 and 8 over the four tracks to and from platforms 2–6 to join the tracks to and from Woodgrange Park and beyond, facilitating c2c services to serve Stratford and Liverpool Street and, since July 2022, the London Overground extension to Barking Riverside. The easternmost bridge carries the westbound Underground tracks from platform 6 over the NR tracks to and from platforms 4 and 5 to the southern side of the LU tracks from platform 2. This enables eastbound cross platform changes between LU trains on platform 2 and NR trains on platform 4. To the east of the station a subway reverses the effect of the above bridge. This enables westbound cross platform changes between LU trains on platform 6 and NR trains on platform 5.


Redevelopment

Barking and Dagenham London Borough Council Barking and Dagenham London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in London, the capital of the United Kingdom. It provides a b ...
has developed a Barking Station Masterplan for the redevelopment of the station, including the removal of retail units from the station concourse, expansion of ticket barriers, additional
Oyster card The Oyster card is a payment method for public transport in London (and certain areas around it) in England, United Kingdom. A standard Oyster card is a blue credit-card-sized stored-value contactless smart card. It is promoted by Transport ...
machines, and new building work to provide replacement retail and to increase natural light within the station. In 2009, the station was identified as one of the ten worst category B interchange stations for mystery shopper assessment of fabric and environment, and it was planned to receive a share of £50m funding for improvements. As part of the 2011 renewal of the
Essex Thameside Essex Thameside is a railway franchise for the provision of passenger services on the London, Tilbury and Southend line in east London and south Essex. It was formed on 26 May 1996, following the privatisation of British Rail and the franchise wa ...
franchise it was proposed that ownership of the station could transfer to Transport for London. Following the 2010 general election the funding for planned works was withdrawn and the 2011 franchise renewal delayed until 2013. The new franchise invitation to tender proposes the transfer of building maintenance from
Network Rail Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. Network Rail is an "arm's leng ...
to the new operator, and includes an option to complete the redevelopment works. In 2012, the public space outside the station on Station Parade was re-ordered and repaved, using funding from Transport for London.


Services

On the Underground, it is served by the
District A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...
and Hammersmith & City (and two early morning Circle line services) lines and forms the eastern terminus for the Hammersmith & City whilst District line services continue eastward to . The station is also served by
National Rail National Rail (NR) is the trading name licensed for use by the Rail Delivery Group, an unincorporated association whose membership consists of the passenger train operating companies (TOCs) of England, Scotland, and Wales. The TOCs run the p ...
() and
London Overground London Overground (also known simply as the Overground) is a Urban rail in the United Kingdom, suburban rail network serving London and its environs. Established in 2007 to take over Silverlink Metro routes, (via archive.org). it now serves a ...
services. *London Underground: Some LU services run to/from "the bay road" (platform 3). Most Hammersmith and City line trains run directly to/from the sidings to the east where some trains are stabled overnight, and therefore use through platforms 2 and 6. S7 stock trains have seen regular service to Barking since 9 December 2012. *If travelling west by Underground, it is usually best to take the first train from platform 6 and change west of Plaistow as necessary (the last opportunity to change between the District and Hammersmith & City lines being Aldgate East). Not only does this avoid the walk to the bay road at Barking, but it also may allow connecting with a train that starts at Plaistow, where there is a bay road used to terminate eastbound trains short, to recover time or for other operational expediency. * London Overground trains on the Gospel Oak to Barking line have used platforms 7 and 8 since the extension to opened in July 2022. Class 710 electric trains are running here, replacing Class 378 electric trains borrowed from other Overground lines after electrification.


Westbound

The typical off-peak trains per hour (tph) service is: *6 tph to London Fenchurch Street (c2c) (6tph weekends) *2 tph to
London Liverpool Street Liverpool Street station, also known as London Liverpool Street, is a central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in the north-eastern corner of the City of London, in the ward of Bishopsgate Without. It is the t ...
via Stratford (weekends only; c2c) *6 tph to via (
District line The District line is a London Underground line running from in the east and Edgware Road in the west to in west London, where it splits into multiple branches. One branch runs to in south-west London and a short branch, with a limited servic ...
) *3 tph to via Tower Hill (District line) *6 tph to via Tower Hill (District line) *6 tph to
Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. ...
(Hammersmith and City line) *4 tph to (
London Overground London Overground (also known simply as the Overground) is a Urban rail in the United Kingdom, suburban rail network serving London and its environs. Established in 2007 to take over Silverlink Metro routes, (via archive.org). it now serves a ...
)


Eastbound

*12 tph to (District line) *2 tph to
Shoeburyness Shoeburyness (; also called Shoebury) is a suburb of the city of Southend-on-Sea, in the City of Southend-on-Sea, in the ceremonial county of Essex, England. east of the city centre. It was an urban district of Essex from 1894 to 1933, when it ...
via
Basildon Basildon ( ) is the largest town in the borough of Basildon, within the county of Essex, England. It has a population of 107,123. In 1931 the parish had a population of 1159. It lies east of Central London, south of the city of Chelmsford and ...
(c2c) *2 tph to Grays via Rainham (c2c) *2 tph to Southend Central via Ockendon (c2c) *4 tph to (London Overground) *6 tph terminating here (Hammersmith and City line) *3 tph terminating here (District line)


Connections

London Buses London Buses is the subsidiary of Transport for London (TfL) that manages most bus services in London, England. It was formed following the Greater London Authority Act 1999 that transferred control of London Regional Transport (LRT) bus se ...
routes 5, 62,
169 Year 169 ( CLXIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Senecio and Apollinaris (or, less frequently, year 922 ''Ab urbe co ...
,
238 __NOTOC__ Year 238 ( CCXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Pius and Pontianus (or, less frequently, year 991 ''Ab ...
,
287 Year 287 (Roman numerals, CCLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. In the Roman Empire, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Diocletian and Maximian (or, less frequ ...
, 366,
368 Year 368 ( CCCLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Augustus and Valens (or, less frequently, year 1121 ''Ab urbe con ...
,
387 __NOTOC__ Year 387 ( CCCLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Augustus and Eutropius (or, less frequently, year 11 ...
EL1, EL2, EL3, school route
687 __NOTOC__ Year 687 ( DCLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 687 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar ...
and night route N15 serve the station.


References


External links


Station information from c2cStation information from Transport for London
{{Railway stations served by c2c District line stations Hammersmith & City line stations Railway stations served by London Overground Railway stations in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham Tube stations in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham London Underground stations located above ground Transport in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham Former London, Tilbury and Southend Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1854 Railway stations served by c2c Grade II listed buildings in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham
Station Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle statio ...
1854 establishments in England John Ward railway stations