Silvertown railway station was on 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 rou ...

(NLL) serving the

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

area of east

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 ...

, until the station and the eastern section of the line it was on were closed in 2006. It was situated between

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 c ...

(now a

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 ...

station) and , the eastern terminus of the line. Silvertown was opened in 1863 by 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 R ...

, on the route of the former

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 ...

, with two tracks and platforms. A decline in use of the line led to the removal of one of the two tracks in 1980, leaving just one platform to serve trains in both directions. North Woolwich was also reduced to one platform. After

third rail A third rail, also known as a live rail, electric rail or conductor rail, is a method of providing electric power to a railway locomotive or train, through a semi-continuous rigid conductor placed alongside or between the rails of a railway t ...

electrification of the line in 1986 by

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 ...

, services were increased and the single-track section became a bottleneck. Prior to closure, the typical Monday to Saturday service frequency westbound towards and eastbound towards North Woolwich was one train every 30 minutes during the daytime, increasing to one every 20 minutes in the evening; one train called every 30 minutes all day on Sundays. In 1973 a government report on the redevelopment of London's Docklands proposed an extension of the unbuilt

Fleet 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 ...

from

Charing Cross Charing Cross ( ) is a junction in Westminster, London, England, where six routes meet. Clockwise from north these are: the east side of Trafalgar Square leading to St Martin's Place and then Charing Cross Road; the Strand leading to the City; ...

via

Fenchurch Street Fenchurch Street is a street in London linking Aldgate at its eastern end with Lombard Street and Gracechurch Street in the west. It is a well-known thoroughfare in the City of London financial district and is the site of many corporate office ...

to Woolwich Arsenal, with stations on each side at

and Woolwich Arsenal. The proposal was developed during the 1970s as the Fleet line developed into the Jubilee line. Although approved in 1980, financial constraints meant that the route was not proceeded with. By the start of the 1990s new plans had been developed to extend the Jubilee line on a route south of the River Thames towards Stratford. After

London City Airport London City Airport is a regional airport in London, England. It is located in the Royal Docks in the Borough of Newham, approximately east of the City of London and east of Canary Wharf. These are the twin centres of London's financial ...

opened nearby there was an attempt to offer the station for connection to the airport, the station being renamed Silvertown and London City Airport on 4 October 1987, but the walk through adjacent side streets, and the relatively infrequent service, which was peripheral rather than into central London, led to little usage of the airport interchange. The Docklands Light Railway Woolwich Arsenal branch now provides a substitute service for much of this part of the NLL; the nearest DLR station to the disused Silvertown station is

. The remaining station buildings and platforms were demolished in 2012 as part of the construction 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 ...

, by Vinci, the contractor responsible for the reconditioning of the Connaught tunnel. Despite talk of constructing a replacement station nearby, this has not been provided for in the

Crossrail Act 2008 The Crossrail Act 2008 (c 18) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that authorises the construction of the Crossrail railway from Maidenhead and Heathrow Airport to Shenfield and Abbey Wood. The legislation was introduced by the th ...

. Nevertheless, passive provision will be made for a station shortly to the east in the event of development of nearby properties. Currently, there are proposals from London City Airport to fund the construction of a £50 million Crossrail station so as to serve London City Airport. However, Transport for London require a formal feasibility study from City Airport to be completed. This is so that progress of the Crossrail project would not be affected by station's construction.

Gallery

File:Silvertown Station - geograph.org.uk - 387976.jpg, In March 2007 vegetation had begun to take hold on the last used line, while the older tracks have completely disappeared File:Silvertown railway station in 2008.jpg, By 2008 vegetation has reclaimed the platform and track of the station File:Silvertown and London City Airport railway station - from footbridge.jpg, In March 2011 the unused trackbed has been cleared but vegetation has a greater hold on the platform File:Silvertown railway station in October 2011.JPG, In October 2011 the vegetation and trackbed has been completely cleared and preparation for Crossrail has begun File:Silvertown railway station (site), Greater London (geograph 4673964).jpg, By 2015 the station and platform have been demolished and construction of Crossrail's trackbed is well underway File:Silvertown station May 2021 8.jpg, Class 345 train running past the former station in May 2021, during Crossrail testing

References

External links

Disused stations in the UK - Silvertown
{{Proposed rail infrastructure projects in the United Kingdom Disused railway stations in the London Borough of Newham Former Great Eastern Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1863 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 2006 1863 establishments in England 2006 disestablishments in England Unbuilt London Underground stations Proposed London Underground stations Silvertown Demolished buildings and structures in London Buildings and structures demolished in 2012