West Ham is a

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 ...

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) 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 ...

intermodal

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 ...

West Ham West Ham is an area in East London, located east of Charing Cross in the west of the modern London Borough of Newham. The area, which lies immediately to the north of the River Thames and east of the River Lea, was originally an ancien ...

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 ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. The station is served by

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 ...

, Hammersmith & City and

Jubilee line The Jubilee line is a London Underground line that runs between in east London and in the suburban north-west, via the Docklands, South Bank and West End. Opened in 1979, it is the newest line on the Underground network, although some secti ...

s, the Stratford International branch of the DLR, and

c2c Trenitalia c2c Limited,Companies House extract company no 789726 ...

services. The station was opened in 1901 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 ...

on the route from Fenchurch Street to Barking. In the late 1990s, the station was rebuilt and significantly expanded as part of the

Jubilee Line Extension The Jubilee Line Extension (JLE) is the extension of the London Underground Jubilee line from to through south and east London. An eastward extension of the line was first proposed in the 1970s. As part of the development of London Docklands, ...

, fully opening in 1999. The station is in

London fare zone 2 Fare zone 2 is an inner zone of Transport for London's zonal fare system used for calculating the price of tickets for travel on the London Underground, London Overground, Docklands Light Railway and, since 2007, on National Rail services. ...

and zone 3.

History

East to west alignment

The

direct line from Bow to Barking was constructed east to west through the middle of the Parish of West Ham in 1858. Before this, trains took a longer route via Stratford and Forest Gate to the north. The new line opened with stations initially at Bromley, Plaistow and East Ham. In November 1897

Arnold Hills Arnold Frank Hills (12 March 1857 – 7 March 1927) was an English businessman, sportsman, philanthropist, and promoter of vegetarianism. Biography Hills was born in Denmark Hill, Surrey, son of a manufacturing chemist. Arnold Hills was also ...

, the owner of the

Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company The Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company, Limited was a shipyard and iron works straddling the mouth of Bow Creek at its confluence with the River Thames, at Leamouth Wharf (often referred to as Blackwall) on the west side and at Cann ...

, whose football team

Thames Ironworks F.C. Thames Ironworks Football Club, the club that later became West Ham United F.C., West Ham United, was founded by Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Co. Ltd owner Arnold Hills and foreman Dave Taylor (Thames Ironworks F.C. founder), Dave Taylor in ...

(which reformed in 1900 as

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

) played at the

Memorial Grounds Memorial Grounds was the home stadium of East London football club Thames Ironworks from the beginning of the 1897–98 season, until the end of the 1899–1900 season. The team continued to play at the stadium, under its new name of West Ham ...

, secured an agreement with the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway to build a station at the intersection of Manor Road and Memorial Avenue. The company board approved this in February 1898 and

Mowlem Mowlem was one of the largest construction and civil engineering companies in the United Kingdom. Carillion bought the firm in 2006. History The firm was founded by John Mowlem in 1822, and was continued as a partnership by successive generati ...

's was given the contract to build a four platform station, which allowed for the proposed quadrupling of the line with the completion of the

Whitechapel and Bow Railway The Whitechapel and Bow Railway was an underground railway in east London, United Kingdom, now entirely integrated into the London Underground system.Wolmar, C., ''Subterranean Railway'', (2004) It was a joint venture between the Metropolitan Dis ...

. The station was completed in May 1900, but did not open until 1 February 1901. The station was initially known as West Ham. 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 ...

had run a daily service to Plaistow via the Bow-Bromley curve since 18 May 1869 and when West Ham opened it used the northern platforms. In 1905 they switched to the southern platforms, with the opening of a new bay platform at Plaistow on the southern side. The Whitechapel and Bow Railway allowed through services of the

Metropolitan District Railway The Metropolitan District Railway, also known as the District Railway, was a passenger railway that served London from 1868 to 1933. Established in 1864 to complete an " inner circle" of lines connecting railway termini in London, the first par ...

to operate through West Ham to Upminster from 1902. The Metropolitan District converted to electric trains in 1905 and services were cut back to East Ham. The London, Tilbury and Southend Railway trains from Fenchurch Street used the southern platforms when the Metropolitan District services began but stopping was reduced to a few a week in 1908 and to nil in 1913. Ownership of the station passed to the

Midland Railway The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had its headquarters. It am ...

in 1912 and 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 ...

in 1923. The station was renamed West Ham (Manor Road) on 11 February 1924. When the North London Railway service to Plaistow ceased on 1 January 1916 the southern platforms were unused in normal service. The Metropolitan District Railway was incorporated into London Transport in 1933, and became known as 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 ...

. Hammersmith & City line services started, as part of the Metropolitan line, in 1936. The southern platforms were removed after war damage in 1940 which had completely closed the station from 7 September 1940 until 11 August 1941. After nationalisation of the railways in 1948 management of the station passed to

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...

ways. In 1969 ownership was transferred to the

and the station was renamed back to West Ham on 1 January. On 15 March 1976, nine people were injured here by an explosion on a train by a member of the

Provisional IRA The Irish Republican Army (IRA; ), also known as the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and informally as the Provos, was an Irish republicanism, Irish republican paramilitary organisation that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland, fa ...

. Julius Stephen, the driver of the train, was shot dead at the scene when he attempted to pursue the fleeing bomber. As part of the

, the station was completely rebuilt, with reconstructed District and Hammersmith and City line platforms. In addition, platforms were re-established on the

main line Mainline, ''Main line'', or ''Main Line'' may refer to: Transportation Railway * Main line (railway), the principal artery of a railway system * Main line railway preservation, the practice of operating preserved trains on an operational railw ...

from Fenchurch Street, now operated by

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. As part of the work, the existing entrance was closed, and the refurbished ticket hall became a connecting concourse to the new ticket hall and the rest of the station. Additionally, the station was made fully accessible.

London 2012 Summer and Paralympic Games

The station was temporarily modified to allow it to cope with an increase in passenger numbers during the

London 2012 The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

Olympic and Paralympic Games. A footbridge was constructed to connect the station to the Greenway foot and cycle path, which connects directly to the

Olympic Park An Olympic Park is a sports campus for hosting the Olympic Games. Typically it contains the Olympic Stadium and the International Broadcast Centre. It may also contain the Olympic Village or some of the other sports venues, such as the aquatics ...

in Stratford. Work began in January 2011, with the construction of temporary stairs and a walkway from the eastern end of the District line platforms, over the eastbound track and running back parallel to the platform ending at Manor Road. The footbridge was demolished in mid-October 2012, following the end of the

2012 Summer Paralympics The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Summer Paralympic Gam ...

. The foundations of the temporary footbridge have been left for possible use in future expansion of the station. A double-ended centre siding east of West Ham was constructed to compensate for lost reversing capacity caused by the rebuilding of

Whitechapel station Whitechapel is an interchange station in Whitechapel, East London for London Underground, London Overground and Elizabeth line services. The station is located behind a street market of the same name and opposite the Whitechapel Civic Centre. I ...

as part of

Crossrail Crossrail is a railway construction project mainly in central London. Its aim is to provide a high-frequency hybrid commuter rail and rapid transit system crossing the capital from suburbs on the west to east, by connecting two major railway ...

work. This was commissioned on 17 January 2011.

North to south alignment

The

Eastern Counties and Thames Junction Railway 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 railwa ...

was constructed north to south through West Ham, linking Stratford with Canning Town in 1846. Platforms were constructed on the line at West Ham in 1979 when the North London Line service, at the time known as the Crosstown Link line, began between Camden Road and North Woolwich. In the 1990s, the station was comprehensively rebuilt as part of the

, designed by

van Heyningen and Haward Architects van Heyningen and Haward is an architectural practice, founded in 1983 by Birkin Haward and Joanna van Heyningen, and now owned and managed by James McCosh and Meryl Townley. The London architects work primarily in education, and have also work ...

. A new bridge crosses four rail lines and a main road, to connect the

and North London line platforms with the new ticket hall and the rest of the station.

services began on 14 May 1999. North London Line services at the station ceased on 9 December 2006, when the line from Stratford to North Woolwich was closed, to allow for the line to be converted for the

. The platforms reopened on 31 August 2011 as part of the extension to Stratford International.

New entrance

As part of the TwelveTrees development on the former

Parcelforce Parcelforce Worldwide is a courier and logistics service in the United Kingdom. Parcelforce Worldwide is a trading name of the Royal Mail and is organised within the UK Parcels, International and Letters division of the group. The company del ...

distribution depot, a new station entrance is being built to connect to the upper Jubilee line concourse. As well as this, two new pedestrian bridges over the railway will be built.

Design

, the station was rebuilt as part of the

in the 1990s. The station consists of four sets of

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 ...

s, two on an elevated east–west alignment and another perpendicular pair at street level, giving a total of eight platform faces. The existing entrance was closed, with the old ticket hall refurbished to become a connecting concourse to the

and Hammersmith & City line platforms and the (new)

c2c Trenitalia c2c Limited,Companies House extract company no 789726 ...

platforms. A new ticket hall - facing onto Manor Road - connects this concourse to the

and North London line platforms via a high level bridge that spans four rail lines and a main road. The station building and connecting passageways are finished in a mixture of red brick, concrete and glass, inspired by

Charles Holden Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was " ...

. The station was built at a fraction of the cost of other

stations, just £10.5m compared to over £100m at stations like

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 ...

. At the upper level, the northern island platform (Platform 1 and 2) are used by

and

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 ...

trains, and the southern island platform (Platforms 7 and 8) are used by

c2c Trenitalia c2c Limited,Companies House extract company no 789726 ...

trains. At the lower level, the western island platform (Platforms 5 and 6) are used by

trains, with the eastern island platform (Platforms 3 and 4) - formerly the North London line platforms - are now used by

trains.

Incidents

On 15 March 1976, seven people were injured by a

bomb on a Metropolitan line train. The terrorist then shot and killed the train's driver Julius Stephen.

Location

The station is located at the corner of Durban Road and Manor Road, in the London Borough of Newham. The station is named after the former parish and borough of West Ham within which it was located to the west of the centre. The neighbourhood of

is located some distance to the north-east. Since

West Ham United Football Club West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, h ...

moved to the

Boleyn Ground The Boleyn Ground, often referred to as Upton Park, was a football stadium located in Upton Park, east London. It was the home of West Ham United from 1904 to 2016, and was briefly used by Charlton Athletic in the early 1990s during their years ...

in 1904, the station is no longer located near their home ground. East London Rugby Football Club is situated nearby on Holland Road, which is also home to

Kings Cross Steelers The Kings Cross Steelers are a United Kingdom, British rugby team, based in London. Founded in 1995 it was the world's first gay-inclusive rugby union club. Its founding sparked the beginning of a much larger gay-inclusive rugby movement which ...

RFC and Phantoms RFC.

Services

The station is in

and zone 3. The typical off-peak weekday service from the station is: tph=trains per hour London Underground: * 12tph to Upminster (District line) * 3tph to Barking (District line) * 6tph to Barking (Hammersmith & City line) * 6tph to Hammersmith (Hammersmith & City line) * 6tph to Ealing Broadway (District line) * 6tph to Richmond (District line) * 3tph to Wimbledon (District line) * 20tph to Stratford (Jubilee line) * 12tph to Stanmore (Jubilee line) * 4tph to Wembley Park (Jubilee line) * 4tph to Willesden Green (Jubilee line) DLR: * 6tph to Stratford International * 6tph to Woolwich Arsenal C2C: * 4tph to Shoeburyness via Basildon * 2tph to Southend Central via Grays and Ockendon (all stations) * 2tph to Grays via Rainham (all stations) * 6tph to London Fenchurch Street

Connections

London Bus route

276 __NOTOC__ Year 276 ( CCLXXVI) was a leap 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 Tacitus and Aemilianus (or, less frequently, year 1029 ...

serves the station.

References

External links

{{Authority control District line stations Hammersmith & City line stations Docklands Light Railway stations in the London Borough of Newham Jubilee line stations London Underground stations located above ground London Underground Night Tube stations Tube stations in the London Borough of Newham Railway stations in the London Borough of Newham Former London, Tilbury and Southend Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1901 Railway stations served by c2c Station 20th-century architecture in the United Kingdom DfT Category C1 stations