Westferry is a 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 Lo ...

(DLR), at the junction of Limehouse Causeway and Westferry Road in

Limehouse Limehouse is a district in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in East London. It is east of Charing Cross, on the northern bank of the River Thames. Its proximity to the river has given it a strong maritime character, which it retains through ...

in London Docklands,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The station is located 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. Ba ...

. To the west is

Limehouse station Limehouse is a National Rail and connected Docklands Light Railway (DLR) station in Limehouse, London, England. It is served by regional services operated by c2c to and from Fenchurch Street, and by light metro services provided by the DLR to a ...

, whilst to the east the DLR splits, with one branch going to Poplar station and the other to West India Quay station.

Location

The DLR station was built midway between the site of the old

and

West India Docks The West India Docks are a series of three docks, quaysides and warehouses built to import goods from and export goods and occasionally passengers to the British West Indies on the Isle of Dogs in London the first of which opened in 1802. Follow ...

stations on the disused

London and Blackwall 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. ...

. Limehouse Police Station is nearby, as is St Anne's Church, built by

Nicholas Hawksmoor Nicholas Hawksmoor (probably 1661 – 25 March 1736) was an English architect. He was a leading figure of the English Baroque style of architecture in the late-seventeenth and early-eighteenth centuries. Hawksmoor worked alongside the principa ...

and boasting London's tallest church clock tower. The station is also close to

Westferry Circus Westferry Circus is a road interchange and public space within the Westferry Complex and is part of the Canary Wharf commercial estate positioned between Limehouse and Millwall in London, and contains a two-level road interchange. There are t ...

and

Canary Wharf Pier Canary Wharf is a London River Services pier on the River Thames in Canary Wharf, London. It is located next to Westferry Circus. Services It is served by two commuter oriented services, both operated by Thames Clippers under licence from Lond ...

Etymology

Westferry station is in Limehouse and given its proximity to the former Limehouse station on the London & Blackwall Railway, could have been given this name, but instead Stepney East was renamed Limehouse and the DLR station there given that name.

West India Quay West India Quay is an area in the London Docklands, London, England. It is immediately to the north of the West India Docks and Canary Wharf. The warehouse at West India Quay was used to store imported goods from the West Indies, such as tea, sug ...

was reserved for the station at the other end of West India Dock, so there was no obvious choice. There is no place called Westferry; the name is derived from the nearby Westferry Road. Nor was there ever a west ferry. There was a passenger ferry at the southern tip of the

Isle of Dogs The Isle of Dogs is a large peninsula bounded on three sides by a large meander in the River Thames in East London, England, which includes the Cubitt Town, Millwall and Canary Wharf districts. The area was historically part of the Manor, Ha ...

run by the Greenwich watermen. It was accessed by two roads, East Ferry Road (also known locally as Farm Road) and Westferry Road, built in 1812 when a horse ferry was introduced alongside the passenger ferry. The two roads still exist, running down the centre and west side of the Isle of Dogs respectively. However, the road names refer to an ancient service at the far end of the Isle of Dogs from the station.

Connections

London Buses routes 135, 277, D3, D7 and night routes N277 and N550 serve the station.

References

External links

Docklands Light Railway website – Westferry station page
{{Docklands Light Railway Docklands Light Railway stations in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1987 Limehouse