Wapping is a station on the East London line located on the northern bank of the

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

Wapping Wapping () is a district in East London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Wapping's position, on the north bank of the River Thames, has given it a strong maritime character, which it retains through its riverside public houses and steps, ...

within the

London Borough of Tower Hamlets The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a London borough covering much of the traditional East End. It was formed in 1965 from the merger of the former metropolitan boroughs of Stepney, Poplar, and Bethnal Green. 'Tower Hamlets' was originall ...

. The station is 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 ...

London Overground London Overground (also known simply as the Overground) is a suburban rail network serving London and its environs. Established in 2007 to take over Silverlink Metro routes, (via archive.org). it now serves a large part of Greater London as we ...

services under the control of the

London Rail London Rail is a directorate of Transport for London (TfL), involved in the relationship with the National Rail network within Greater London, UK which manages TfL's non-London Underground train services. Operations London Rail manages the ...

division of Transport for London, however there is no standard red National Rail "double arrow" logo signage located at the station, instead only the Overground roundel. The station is between and , and is in

Travelcard 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. ...

. After temporary closures for remodelling, the station reopened for preview services on 27 April 2010 for services to and , and from 23 May 2010 trains to and from New Cross Gate were extended to West Croydon and .

History

Construction

Bricklayers Arms & New Cross, Midhurst RJD 91

The station occupies the north end of the former Thames foot tunnel built by

Marc Isambard Brunel Sir Marc Isambard Brunel (, ; 25 April 1769 – 12 December 1849) was a French-British engineer who is most famous for the work he did in Britain. He constructed the Thames Tunnel and was the father of Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Born in Fran ...

between 1825 and 1843, and subsequently adapted for railway traffic. Access to the station is by lift or a flight of stairs built into one of the original access shafts of the Thames Tunnel.

London, Brighton and South Coast Railway

The station was originally opened as the northern terminus of the East London Railway on 7 December 1869 as ''Wapping and Shadwell'', and the station was renamed ''Wapping'' on 10 April 1876, when the line was extended northwards to , via a new station at . The earliest trains were provided by the

London, Brighton and South Coast Railway The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR; known also as the Brighton line, the Brighton Railway or the Brighton) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1846 to 1922. Its territory formed a rough triangle, with London at its ...

, whose system connected with the line at .

London Underground

Underground trains of the

Metropolitan Metropolitan may refer to: * Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories * Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England * Metropolitan county, a typ ...

and the

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 ...

s first served the station on 1 October 1884, but the station was last served by District trains on 31 July 1905. In 1980 a London Underground plan to extend the

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 ...

to Woolwich Arsenal and

Beckton Beckton is a suburb in east London, England, located east of Charing Cross and part of the London Borough of Newham. Adjacent to the River Thames, the area consisted of unpopulated marshland known as the East Ham Levels in the parishes of Barki ...

was approved by parliament. This included a station at Wapping, but was never built. The extension constructed in the 1990s followed a different route to the south of the River Thames. The station was extensively remodelled between 1995 and 1998, when the entire East London Line—including Wapping station—was closed due to repair work on the tunnels under the Thames. Vitreous enamel panels by Nick Hardcastle, showing the station and the area in former and modern times, were installed on the platforms.

London Overground

Train at the northbound platform of Wapping station in November 2015

The East London Line closed on 22 December 2007, and reopened on 27 April 2010 when it became part of the new

system. During this time the station was heavily refurbished. The proposed extension of the East London Line raised concerns that the station would have to be closed due to its platforms being too short (only four cars long) to accommodate the new rolling stock planned for the extended line (which could be six or eight cars long). The narrowness of the platforms was also a concern. The station does not fully meet the safety standards for an underground station but is permitted to operate under a derogation from

Her Majesty's Railway Inspectorate Established in 1840, His Majesty's Railway Inspectorate (HMRI) is the organisation responsible for overseeing safety on Britain's railways and tramways. It was previously a separate non-departmental public body, but from 1990 to April 2006 it ...

. Despite this, on 16 August 2004 then-

Mayor of London The mayor of London is the chief executive of the Greater London Authority. The role was created in 2000 after the Greater London devolution referendum in 1998, and was the first directly elected mayor in the United Kingdom. The current m ...

Ken Livingstone Kenneth Robert Livingstone (born 17 June 1945) is an English politician who served as the Leader of the Greater London Council (GLC) from 1981 until the council was abolished in 1986, and as Mayor of London from the creation of the office i ...

announced that the station would remain open. It is in

Services

All times below are correct as of the December 2010 timetables.

London Overground

East London Line

On Mondays to Saturdays there is a service every 5–10 minutes throughout the day, while on Sundays before 13:00 there is a service every 5–9 minutes, changing to every 7–8 minutes until the end of service after that. Current off peak frequency is: *8 northbound to Highbury & Islington *8 northbound to *4 southbound to via *4 southbound to via *4 southbound to *4 southbound to West Croydon via

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 s ...

routes

100 100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101. In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to des ...

and D3 serve the station.

In popular culture

The Wapping railway station features in the 1967 film ''

To Sir, with Love ''To Sir, with Love'' is a 1967 British drama film that deals with social and racial issues in an inner city school. It stars Sidney Poitier and features Christian Roberts, Judy Geeson, Suzy Kendall and singer Lulu making her film debut. Jame ...

''.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * {{Closed London Underground stations Railway stations in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets Former East London Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1869 Railway stations served by London Overground Railway stations with vitreous enamel panels Railway station 1869 establishments in England Railway stations located underground in the United Kingdom London Overground Night Overground stations