The Eastern Counties and Thames Junction Railway in east London connected the

Royal Docks Royal Docks is an area and a ward in the London Borough of Newham in the London Docklands in East London, England. The area is named after three docks – the Royal Albert Dock, the Royal Victoria Dock and the King George V Dock. They are mo ...

with the

Eastern Counties Railway The Eastern Counties Railway (ECR) was an English railway company incorporated in 1836 intended to link London with Ipswich via Colchester, and then extend to Norwich and Yarmouth. Construction began in 1837 on the first nine miles at the ...

(ECR). Authorised in 1844, it opened in 1846, and was absorbed by the ECR in 1847. The ECR amalgamated with other railways to form the

Great Eastern Railway The Great Eastern Railway (GER) was a pre-grouping British railway company, whose main line linked London Liverpool Street to Norwich and which had other lines through East Anglia. The company was grouped into the London and North Eastern Ra ...

in 1862.

History

The EC&TJR was incorporated on 4 July 1844. It opened on 29 April 1846 from Stratford to Bow Creek to transport coal from a pier on the mouth of the River Lea. A year later it was extended to

North Woolwich North Woolwich is an area in the London Borough of Newham in East London. It is located on the northern bank of the River Thames, across the river from Woolwich. It is connected to Woolwich by the Woolwich Ferry and Woolwich foot tunnel. De ...

via Silvertown, allowing connections with the Woolwich Ferry; the same year it was taken over by 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 fe ...

. When the

Royal Victoria Dock The Royal Victoria Dock is the largest of three docks in the Royal Docks of east London, now part of the redeveloped Docklands. History Although, the structure was in place in the year 1850, it was opened in 1855, on a previously uninhabit ...

opened in 1855 the line between Canning Town and North Woolwich had to have a

swingbridge A swing bridge (or swing span bridge) is a movable bridge that has as its primary structural support a vertical locating pin and support ring, usually at or near to its center of gravity, about which the swing span (turning span) can then p ...

over the entrance to the dock, which increased journey times. In response, the line was rerouted north of the dock through two new stations, at

Custom House A custom house or customs house was traditionally a building housing the offices for a jurisdictional government whose officials oversaw the functions associated with importing and exporting goods into and out of a country, such as collecting ...

and Tidal Basin. The southern line remained in service for local factories and was renamed the ''Silvertown Tramway''. After the construction of the Albert Dock, with the same problem envisaged on the route to

Silvertown Silvertown is a district in the London Borough of Newham, in east London, England. It lies on the north bank of the Thames and was historically part of the parishes of West Ham and East Ham, hundred of Becontree, and the historic county ...

, in 1878 the railway built the

cut and cover A tunnel is an underground passageway, dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, and enclosed except for the entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used immersed tube cons ...

Connaught Tunnel (also known as the Silvertown Tunnel or Albert Dock Tunnel), at the new dock's entrance; it emerges on the eastern side just short of the old

Tate & Lyle Tate & Lyle PLC is a British-headquartered, global supplier of food and beverage ingredients to industrial markets. It was originally a sugar refining business, but from the 1970s it began to diversify, eventually divesting its sugar business i ...

factory. In 1935, after it was discovered that larger ships entering the docks were scraping the roof of the tunnel, an iron casing was placed along the section under the dock. In 1872 the

Gas Light and Coke Company The Gas Light and Coke Company (also known as the Westminster Gas Light and Coke Company, and the Chartered Gas Light and Coke Company), was a company that made and supplied coal gas and coke. The headquarters of the company were located on Ho ...

opened a branch running north-east to

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 ...

(not the site of

Beckton DLR station Beckton is the eastern terminus of the Beckton branch of the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) in the Docklands area of east London. It is in Travelcard Zone 3. History When the London Docks and Beckton Gasworks were active, they were served by ...

) to serve its

gasworks A gasworks or gas house is an industrial plant for the production of flammable gas. Many of these have been made redundant in the developed world by the use of natural gas, though they are still used for storage space. Early gasworks Coal ...

;Jackson A.A, ''London's Local Railways'', David & Charles, 1978, in 1880, as the Royal Albert Dock opened, a branch line to Gallions was opened by the London & St Katherine Dock Company, which ran due east along the north edge of the dock to 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 ...

on the far side of the dock. Both of these branches left the main line at Custom House. At the same time, the line was connected to the

Palace Gates Line The Palace Gates Line was a short railway branch line in north London running from the main line at Seven Sisters station in Tottenham to Palace Gates (Wood Green) station in Wood Green. Opening The line was constructed by the Great Eastern ...

to Palace Gates in North London, and regular services between North Woolwich and Palace Gates operated. The line was quadrupled between Stratford Market and Tidal Basin in stages by 1892, though the western pair of tracks became less used over the years.

Demise

The lines to Beckton and Gallions closed after bomb damage during

the Blitz The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'. The Germa ...

, as did Tidal Basin station. The line to Beckton reopened for goods (by-products from the gasworks), closing in 1972. The Palace Gates-North Woolwich line continued until 1963, when services were rerouted to Tottenham Hale, later terminating at Stratford. In 1979 the diesel service from North Woolwich to Stratford was diverted via the old

via Dalston Kingsland to Camden Road and marketed as the Crosstown Linkline, a predecessor of 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 ro ...

. In 1985 third rail electrification was extended from Dalston via Stratford to North Woolwich, and electric trains started to run through from Richmond. The service was never as popular south of Stratford as on the rest of this route, and as services were enhanced from the original frequency the extra trains were terminated at Stratford. Part of the reason for this was that only one track beyond Custom House through the Connaught Tunnel was electrified, which restricted the service that could be provided on the easternmost section.

Redevelopment

London Underground Jubilee line

The Jubilee Line Extension of the

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 counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The ...

was built along the alignment of the former western tracks from Canning Town to Stratford, and opened in 1999. This took much of the remaining traffic from the line south of Stratford.

Docklands Light Railway

Part of the line between Custom House and Gallions was redeveloped as the Beckton branch of 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 ...

, as was a short section of the Beckton line between Woolwich Manor Way and the new Royal Docks Road. With opening of the

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Qu ...

branch of the DLR, the North London Line between Stratford and North Woolwich closed in December 2006. The stretch between Canning Town and Stratford was converted to become the

Stratford International Stratford International is a National Rail station in Stratford and a separate Docklands Light Railway (DLR) station nearby, located in East Village in London. Despite its name, no international services stop at the station; plans for it to ...

branch of the DLR, which opened in September 2011.

Crossrail

The Custom House to North Woolwich section, including a £50M investment to renovate and reuse the Connaught tunnel, has been undertaken for

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 l ...

Stations

Main line (opened 1846): * Stratford *

Stratford Market Stratford Market was a wholesale fruit and vegetable market, located in Stratford in the London Borough of Newham. Opened in 1879 by the Great Eastern Railway as a competitor to Spitalfields Market in the City of London, the market closed in 19 ...

(opened as Stratford Bridge, closed 1957, reopened 2011 as Stratford High Street) *

Canning Town Canning Town is a district in the London Borough of Newham, East London. The district is located to the north of the Royal Victoria Dock, and has been described as the "Child of the Victoria Docks" as the timing and nature of its urbanisation ...

* Tidal Basin (opened 1858, closed 1943) *

(opened 1855) *

(opened 1863, closed 2006) *

(closed 2006) Branch from Custom House to Beckton (opened 1872, closed 1972): *

Branch from Custom House to Gallions (opened 1874, closed 1940): *

Connaught Road Connaught Road is a major thoroughfare on the north shore of Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong. It links Shing Sai Road in Kennedy Town to the west and Harcourt Road in Admiralty to the east. Location The road consists of two adjoining sections, ...

Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known a ...

* Manor Way * Gallions

References

External links

West Ham Transport and postal services
{{Eastern Counties and Thames Junction Railway nav box Transport in the London Borough of Newham Railway lines opened in 1846 History of rail transport in London Early British railway companies Closed railway lines in London Port of London 1846 establishments in England Railway companies established in 1844 British companies established in 1844