Cutty Sark for Maritime Greenwich is a

light metro A medium-capacity system (MCS), also known as light rapid transit or light metro, is a rail transport system with a capacity greater than light rail, but less than typical heavy-rail rapid transit. MCS’s trains are usually 1-4 cars, or 1 ligh ...

station on the

Docklands Light Railway The Docklands Light Railway (DLR) is an automated light metro system serving the redeveloped Docklands area of London, England and provides a direct connection between London's two major financial districts, Canary Wharf and the City of Londo ...

(DLR) Bank-Lewisham Line in

Greenwich Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich ...

, south-east

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, so named for its proximity to the ''

Cutty Sark ''Cutty Sark'' is a British clipper ship. Built on the River Leven, Dumbarton, Scotland in 1869 for the Jock Willis Shipping Line, she was one of the last tea clippers to be built and one of the fastest, coming at the end of a long period of ...

'' in the Maritime Greenwich district. It is the most central of the Greenwich DLR stations, being situated in Greenwich town centre.

Location

The northernmost of the Greenwich DLR stations, Cutty Sark for Maritime Greenwich is located in the Maritime Greenwich district of south-eastern London. Its name comes from the clipper ship named ''

'' which is housed to the north of the station. A number of well-known tourist attractions are in the surrounding area, including the

National Maritime Museum The National Maritime Museum (NMM) is a maritime museum in Greenwich, London. It is part of Royal Museums Greenwich, a network of museums in the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site. Like other publicly funded national museums in the United ...

, Royal Observatory, Greenwich Hospital,

Greenwich foot tunnel The Greenwich Foot Tunnel crosses beneath the River Thames in East London, linking Greenwich (Royal Borough of Greenwich) on the south bank with Millwall (London Borough of Tower Hamlets) on the north. Approximately 4,000 people use the tunne ...

Trinity College of Music Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance is a music and dance conservatoire based in London, England. It was formed in 2005 as a merger of two older institutions – Trinity College of Music and Laban Dance Centre. The conservatoire has ...

, and the

Old Royal Naval College The Old Royal Naval College is the architectural centrepiece of Maritime Greenwich, a World Heritage Site in Greenwich, London, described by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) as being of "outstanding ...

.Cutty Sark station information
''Transport for London'' Retrieved 2010-07-20 It is located close to the south bank of the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...

and is below ground. Along with all other stations on the

Lewisham Lewisham () is an area of southeast London, England, south of Charing Cross. It is the principal area of the London Borough of Lewisham, and was within the Historic counties of England, historic county of Kent until 1889. It is identified i ...

extension, it is in Travelcard Zones 2 and 3, with passengers charged the lower of two possible fares.

History

Cutty Sark station opened on 3 December 1999 as part of a extension of the DLR from its former southern terminus of Island Gardens southwards to Lewisham.DLR history map
''Transport for London'' Retrieved 2010-07-20 Since its opening, the extension has seen growth as a result of it connecting, along with two

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 ...

connections, the

Canary Wharf Canary Wharf is an area of London, England, located near the Isle of Dogs in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Canary Wharf is defined by the Greater London Authority as being part of London's central business district, alongside Central Lo ...

financial centre with Greenwich.DLR toasts 10 years of the Lewisham extension
''Transport for London'' Retrieved 2010-07-20

Station layout

One of only three completely underground stations on the DLR network, Cutty Sark station has an

island platform An island platform (also center platform, centre platform) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway interchange. Island platforms are popular on ...

with a track each side of it. This is similar to its cross-river sister station,

Island Gardens Island Gardens is a public park located at the southern end of the Isle of Dogs in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets on the north bank of the River Thames. The park was formally opened on 3 August 1895 by local politician Will Crooks. The ...

. The need for increased capacity has posed issues for the station. While most on the network have had their platforms extended as part of Transport for London's three-carriage capacity enhancement project, the two-car-long island platform at Cutty Sark cannot be lengthened due to cost (estimated at £30m) and risk of damage to the heritage site at street level. This is addressed by using

selective door operation Selective door operation (SDO), also known as selective door opening, is a mechanism employed primarily on trains (although buses with multiple doors also generally have this feature) that allows the driver or conductor/guard to open the doors of ...

, allowing three-car trains to stop at the station by only having the doors near the centre of the train open in both end carriages; the first and last two sets of doors on each train do not open.DLR public inquiry closes
''Transport for London'' Retrieved 2010-07-20 Customers are warned of the need to move to the centre to leave the train by on-board announcements. A similar situation applies at Elverson Road.

Services

Cutty Sark serves trains on two branches: Bank to Lewisham and Stratford to Lewisham. The former runs at frequencies of up to four minutes between trains, while the latter only runs during morning peak hours; at other times trains from Stratford terminate at

.DLR frequencies
''Transport for London'' Retrieved 2010-07-20 Passengers bound for Tower Gateway, Beckton, or Woolwich Arsenal must change at Poplar or Westferry.

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 188, 199 and night routes N1 and N199 serve the station.

Nearby places of interest

* Devonport Conference Centre *

Fan Museum The Fan Museum, which opened in 1991, is the world's first museum dedicated to the preservation and display of hand fans. It is located within two grade II* listed houses that were built in 1721 within the Greenwich World Heritage Site in southe ...

Greenwich Park Greenwich Park is a former hunting park in Greenwich and one of the largest single green spaces in south-east London. One of the Royal Parks of London, and the first to be enclosed (in 1433), it covers , and is part of the Greenwich World Herita ...

* Painted Hall & Chapel *

Royal Observatory Greenwich Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a c ...

Greenwich Market Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Gree ...

* Greenwich Hospital *

* St. Alfege's Church *

University of Greenwich The University of Greenwich is a public university located in London and Kent, United Kingdom. Previous names include Woolwich Polytechnic and Thames Polytechnic. The university's main campus is at the Old Royal Naval College, which along with it ...

* Wernher Collection at

Ranger's House Ranger's House is a medium-sized red brick Georgian mansion in the Palladian style, adjacent to Greenwich Park in the south east of London. It is situated in Blackheath and backs directly onto Greenwich Park. Previously known as Chesterfield ...

Gallery

Image:Cutty Sark stn southbound look south.JPG, Southbound platform 1 looking south Image:Cutty Sark DLR station platform 1 and train.jpg, Train stopped at platform 1 Image:TBM Cutter Head at Cutty Sark DLR station.jpg, Part of the cutter head from the front of the TBM (

tunnel boring machine A tunnel boring machine (TBM), also known as a "mole", is a machine used to excavate tunnels with a circular cross section through a variety of soil and rock strata. They may also be used for microtunneling. They can be designed to bore throu ...

) used to drive the twin tunnels under the river Thames from Island Gardens to Greenwich Image:Cutty Sark stn signage.JPG, Signage on northbound platform

References

External links

Docklands Light Railway website - Cutty Sark station page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cutty Sark Dlr Station Docklands Light Railway stations in the Royal Borough of Greenwich Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1999 Railway stations located underground in the United Kingdom