Poplar (East India Road) was a railway station located on the

East India Dock Road East India Dock Road is a major arterial route from Limehouse to Canning Town in London. The road takes its name from the former East India Docks in the Port of London, and partly serves as the high street of Poplar. To the west it becomes Co ...

in Poplar, London. It was opened in 1866 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 fell ...

. It was the southern passenger

terminus Terminus may refer to: * Bus terminus, a bus station serving as an end destination * Terminal train station or terminus, a railway station serving as an end destination Geography *Terminus, the unofficial original name of Atlanta, Georgia, United ...

of the NLR, although goods trains ran on to connect to the

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, London, Blackwall via Stepney, with a branch line to the Isle of Dogs, connecting central London to many o ...

(LBR) for the

East India Docks The East India Docks were a group of docks in Blackwall, east London, north-east of the Isle of Dogs. Today only the entrance basin and listed perimeter wall remain visible. History Early history Following the successful creation of the We ...

or to the LBR's Millwall Extension Railway for the

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 ...

. The station site is now (2021) occupied by

All Saints DLR station All Saints is a Docklands Light Railway (DLR) station in Poplar in East London. The station is named after nearby All Saints, a Church of England parish church dating from 1821 to 1823. The station entrance is on the East India Dock Road, th ...

whilst

Poplar DLR station Poplar is a Docklands Light Railway (DLR) station in Poplar in London, England. Poplar is a cross-platform interchange station for three of the six lines on the DLR (-, Bank- and Tower Gateway-) making it one of the busiest stations on the ne ...

is to the south and west.

Description

The station building was located on the south side of the

bridge over the railway and was a substantial brick building with some Portland Stone features designed by architect Thomas Matthews. There were four arched windows arranged either side of three arched doors. It had a flat roof. Within the building was a parcels office and ticket office and after passing the ticket inspector the passenger had the choice of the going left for the terminating platform (although some services operated through to Blackwall between 1870 and 1890), or right for services via Bow to Broad Street. There were some goods sidings adjacent to the Broad Street (up direction) platform used for wagon storage. The stationmaster's office and lavatories were located on the up platform. Two NLR carriage sidings were located south of the station and there was initially two signal boxes in the area although these were combined into a signal box named Poplar Central on 9 September 1888. This was located south of the station on the up side of the line. South of the station the line and the Poplar High Street bridge the line split with the easterly line diverging and rising up and over by means of a bridge the

(LBR) route to the North London basin and sidings in the docks area. The LBR had refused an at-grade crossing on their already busy line but there was a further junction off this line (known as Poplar Junction) that was used to allow through running to Blackwall in 1870. The other route from Poplar went to Harrow Lane sidings where traffic could be routed to other docks on 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, Ham ...

Millwall Docks (Harrow Lane) & Poplar RJD 56

History

Pre grouping (1850-1922)

The East & West India Docks & Birmingham Junction Railway (later

(NLR)) was incorporated by Act of Parliament on 26 August 1846. It was empowered to construct a railway from the district of Poplar and the docks to

Camden Town Camden Town (), often shortened to Camden, is a district of northwest London, England, north of Charing Cross. Historically in Middlesex, it is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Camden, and identified in the London Plan as o ...

in north London. The railway's headquarters and locomotive works were initially in Bow. Services started running on 26 September 1850 but Poplar (East India Road) station was not built and the trains (initially from Islington) ran to Bow and then via Gas Factory Junction to Fenchurch Street as the line did not have a central London terminus. The line through Poplar opened on 1 January 1852 to goods traffic only. Although a station had been built (known as Poplar High Street) at the time and located south of the East India Road site it never had a passenger train service. It was not until 1865 that East India Road station was built and the station was named Poplar, but the LBR also had a station of the same name nearby on Brunswick Street, close to the northern entrance of the

Blackwall Tunnel The Blackwall Tunnel is a pair of road tunnels underneath the River Thames in east London, England, linking the London Borough of Tower Hamlets with the Royal Borough of Greenwich, and part of the A102 road. The northern portal lies just south ...

, so the new station was referred to as 'Poplar (East India Road)' to distinguish it. Services started operating to Broad Street which opened in the same year and the former Fenchurch Street service operated as a connecting shuttle service from Bow. In 1870 NLR passenger services were able to access the

London & 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. ...

Blackwall railway station Blackwall was a railway station in Blackwall, London, that served as the eastern terminus of the Commercial Railway (later the London and Blackwall Railway). It was located on the south side of the East India Docks, near the shore of the Ri ...

and a service started operating in 1870. Blackwall was connected by various Thames steamers to downstream locations. This service lasted until 1 July 1890 and Poplar Junction was removed and the remaining track work converted into a carriage siding for NLR services. The line through to the North London docks continued in operation after 1890. In 1904 the road bridge carrying

was rebuilt in connection with the forthcoming electrification of the tram service. The new tram service had a negative effect on passenger numbers using the North London's Broad Street service which saw a decline through the following decades. The

London & North Western Railway The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century, the L&NWR was the largest joint stock company in the United Kingdom. In 1923, it became a constituent of the Lo ...

(LNWR) took over the working of the North London Railway under a common management arrangement on 1 February 1909 although the North London Railway continued to exist until 1922.

London Midland & Scottish Railway (1923-1944)

Following the

Railways Act 1921 The Railways Act 1921 (c. 55), also known as the Grouping Act, was an Act of Parliament enacted by the British government and intended to stem the losses being made by many of the country's 120 railway companies, by "grouping" them into four la ...

, also known as the grouping act, operation of the station fall under the control of the

London Midland & 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 ...

. When the former LBR Poplar station closed in 1926 (then operated by the London & North Eastern Railway), the LMS station became known simply as 'Poplar'. Sunday services to Poplar were withdrawn on 29 January 1940. The station was badly damaged in the first

London 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 ...

with bomb damage recorded on 20 March, 10 and 11 May 1940. It was however an attack on 29 January 1944 that saw the station buildings severely damaged and out of use although access to the platforms was still possible. Damage to other stations on the line saw the LMS decide to withdraw the service on 15 May 1944. A further attack in June 1944 saw the station further damaged beyond reasonable repair. Although replacement bus services operated for a period the station was officially closed on 23 April 1945.

After closure

The ruined buildings were demolished in March 1947 although the platforms and some low level remains of the station buildings remained hidden by advertising hoardings. Despite the closure of the station the lines through the platforms were re-opened as they were a major route for goods trains running through to the docks. The docks saw a gradual decline in traffic and Poplar Central Signal Box officially closed on 2 December 1970 with all points being set for train crew operation. The inevitable followed some 13 years later and closure to all rail traffic occurred on 3 October 1983 with the track being lifted during May 1984. After closure, work started on building 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 Londo ...

and

was built on the site. The few remains of the station were demolished around this time. The new station had services between Stratford and

Island Gardens Island Gardens is a public park located at the southern end of the Isle of Dogs in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets on the north bank of the River Thames. The park was formally opened on 3 August 1895 by local politician Will Crooks. The ...

commencing on 31 August 1987. In 2021 a more frequent service operates between Stratford and Canary Wharf with some peak hour trains extended to and from Lewisham. Note - between 1870 and 1890 some trains worked through to

References

{{coord, 51.5110, -0.0131, type:railwaystation_region:GB_source:npemap.org.uk-enwiki, display=title Disused railway stations in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets Former North London Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1866 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1944 Poplar, London