Kingsland Viaduct is a railway
viaduct
A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, piers or columns supporting a long elevated railway or road. Typically a viaduct connects two points of roughly equal elevation, allowing direct overpass across a wide v ...
about in length, almost wholly within the present
London Borough of Hackney
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...
in the north-east part of
Inner London
Inner London is the name for the group of London boroughs which form the interior part of Greater London and are surrounded by Outer London. With its origins in the bills of mortality, it became fixed as an area for statistics in 1847 and was use ...
. It was built in the 1860s, but was disused from 1986 until it was reopened to carry the
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 ...
in 2010. The viaduct is owned by
Transport for London. Since then it has carried
East London Line services between
Shoreditch High Street
Shoreditch High Street is the old main street of Shoreditch, London. It is part of the A10 road and connects Norton Folgate to the south with Kingsland Road to the north. It constitutes a segment of the Roman Ermine Street, which ran directl ...
and
Dalston
Dalston () is an area of East London, in the London Borough of Hackney. It is northeast of Charing Cross. Dalston began as a hamlet on either side of Dalston Lane, and as the area urbanised the term also came to apply to surrounding areas includ ...
.
History
Initial operation
It was built as the main part of the
North London City Extension, providing a more direct link from the
North London Railway
The North London Railway (NLR) company had lines connecting the northern suburbs of London with the East and West India Docks further east. The main east to west route is now part of London Overground's North London Line. Other NLR lines fell ...
to the
City of London
The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...
(the City) at
Broad Street, next door to the site that became
Liverpool Street station
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 ...
.
Previously the North London Line's access from west of Dalston to the City was by a circuitous route via Hackney, Homerton, Bow and Stepney to
Fenchurch Street
Fenchurch Street is a street in London linking Aldgate at its eastern end with Lombard Street and Gracechurch Street in the west. It is a well-known thoroughfare in the City of London financial district and is the site of many corporate office ...
. The extension, originally with three lines, shortened this considerably by providing a direct route from Dalston over the Kingsland Viaduct. It was authorised by the
North London Railway Act of 22 July 1861. It is said to have cost £1 million and displaced 4,500 people.
The extension was accessed by a triangular junction, accessible from both the west and east directions on the North London Railway.
Passenger traffic into Broad Street began on 1 November 1865, and was said to have doubled the number of passengers to 14 million in 1868. Initially, there were services at fifteen-minute intervals to both Hampstead and Bow.
A fourth line was added to the extension in 1874. Broad Street originally had seven platforms, extended to eight in 1891 and nine in 1913. The lines were electrified with two conductor rails at 600 V DC, with services beginning on 1 October 1916, using Oerlikon rolling stock. However, only the western five platforms at Broad Street served electrified lines, the remaining lines being unelectrified. Electric services to Watford did not begin until 10 July 1922.
Reopening
![1983 stock artists studios](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/82/1983_stock_artists_studios.JPG)
The last scheduled train over the viaduct was on 27 June 1986, after which the line and its remaining stations were all closed.
After that there were proposals in 1993 to extend
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 ...
's
East London Line along it from its
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 ...
terminus to Dalston Junction. The plan received the support of a public inquiry in 1994 and it was envisaged that the construction of the extension and the station itself would begin in 1996, to be completed by 1998. The project was finally approved by the Government in 1996 but a lack of funding forced the project to be delayed in 1997.
["Where Tube axe falls." ''The Times'', 21 February 1997]
However, in 2007 the
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 ...
was created, which included the
North London Line
The North London line (NLL) is a railway line which passes through the inner suburbs of west, north-west, north, and east London, England between Richmond in the south-west and Stratford in the east, avoiding central London. Its route is a rou ...
(the North London railway to which the viaduct connects at Dalston), and the East London Line was transferred to the London Overground to be extended south and to the north to meet the North London Line. To do this it followed the 1993 route along the Kingsland Viaduct. Work was complete in 2010 and on 27 April 2010 the first services began along the viaduct for the first time in over two decades.
To facilitate this the viaduct has been refurbished, and many bridges over roads replaced; a remnant of the brick viaduct between New Inn Yard and Holywell Lane was demolished to make way for a connecting concrete viaduct to the new bridge over Shoreditch High Street.
The southern end of the viaduct, from the old Broad Street/Liverpool Street terminus and where the East London Line crosses onto the viaduct at Hollywell Lane, has been given over to development, including the
Broadgate Tower
The Broadgate Tower is a skyscraper in London's main financial district, the City of London. It was constructed between 2005 and 2008.
History
The developer for the site was British Land. In February 2005 Broadgate Plaza Ltd, a subsidiary of Bri ...
.
Stations
There were four stations on and adjacent to the viaduct:
*
Dalston Junction
Dalston Junction (pronounced ) is an inter-modal rail and bus transport interchange in Dalston, London. It is located at the crossroads of Dalston Lane, Kingsland Road and Balls Pond Road. The station served by London Overground East London li ...
was at the bottom of the incline to the north of the viaduct, at the apex of the triangular junction, actually below street level.
*
Haggerston
Haggerston is a locale in East London, England, centred approximately on Great Cambridge Street (now renamed Queensbridge Road). It is within the London Borough of Hackney and is considered to be a part of London's East End. It is about 3.1 mi ...
, not to be confused with the earlier NLR station on a slightly different site
*
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 ...
, straddling Old Street and parallel to Shoreditch High Street, not to be confused with the
former (now closed) London Underground station of the same name, some distance to the east
* Broad Street, at the southern end of the viaduct, which had suburban services throughout its existence, and limited main line services.
As of 2010, the new stations on the extended viaduct, or adjacent, are;
* A rebuilt
Dalston Junction
Dalston Junction (pronounced ) is an inter-modal rail and bus transport interchange in Dalston, London. It is located at the crossroads of Dalston Lane, Kingsland Road and Balls Pond Road. The station served by London Overground East London li ...
on the same site as before.
* A rebuilt
Haggerston station slightly to the north.
*
Hoxton
Hoxton is an area in the London Borough of Hackney, England. As a part of Shoreditch, it is often considered to be part of the East End – the historic core of wider East London. It was historically in the county of Middlesex until 1889. I ...
, a completely new station, opposite the rear of the
Geffrye museum
The Museum of the Home, formerly the Geffrye Museum, is a free museum in the 18th-century Grade I-listed former almshouses on Kingsland Road in Shoreditch, London. The museum explores home and home life from 1600 to the present day with gallerie ...
.
*
Shoreditch High Street
Shoreditch High Street is the old main street of Shoreditch, London. It is part of the A10 road and connects Norton Folgate to the south with Kingsland Road to the north. It constitutes a segment of the Roman Ermine Street, which ran directl ...
, a completely new station.
References
* Connor, J.E. (1995) ''Broad Street to Poplar: A Photographic Journey'', Colchester : Connor & Butler, 53p
* Mitchell, Vic and Smith, Keith (1997) ''North London line : Broad Street to Willesden Jn. via Hampstead Heath'', Midhurst : Middleton Press, 96p
* White, Henry Patrick (1987) ''A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain, Volume 3 - Greater London'', Newton Abbott : David St John Thomas, 237p
{{Coord, 51.5318, -0.0754, type:landmark_region:GB-HCK, display=title
Buildings and structures in the London Borough of Hackney
Railway viaducts in London