Stratford High Street is 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 Lo ...

station in Stratford in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

, England. It is located on the Stratford International branch of the Docklands Light Railway, which opened on 31 August 2011. The site was the location of an earlier railway station from 1847 to 1957, known initially as Stratford Bridge and later as Stratford Market - after the nearby wholesale fruit and vegetable market.

History

The first station on the site was opened as ''Stratford Bridge'' on 14 June 1847 in Stratford-at- Bow on the Eastern Counties and Thames Junction Railway (ECR) between Stratford and

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 ...

stations. By the 1860s the railways in East Anglia were in financial trouble, and most were leased to the ECR; they wished to amalgamate formally, but could not obtain government agreement for this until 1862, when 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 ...

(GER) was formed by amalgamation. Thus Stratford Bridge became a GER station in 1862.

Stratford Market

In 1879, the

opened a wholesale fruit and vegetable market at Stratford to rival

Spitalfields Market Spitalfields Market is a traders' market as well as a food and art market located in Spitalfields, Central London. Traders began operating around 1666, after the Great Fire of London, where the market stands today. The Spitalfields regeneration pr ...

, and the station was renamed ''Stratford Market'' on 1 November 1880. The station was resited in 1892 when the line was widened. On the westbound platform there was a tower that contained steps that allowed direct access over the goods lines to the adjacent Great Eastern Railway's printing works which opened in 1893. the building is still extant.

1905 collision

On 5 April 1905 two trains collided just north of Stratford Market station. At this time there were several junctions between Stratford Low Level platforms and Stratford Market station and a goods train was making a move from the Western Curve to the Goods Lines at Stratford Market. An empty coaching stock train was stopped at Stratford Market station awaiting a path towards Stratford Low Level when the driver, thinking he had the right to proceed, started the train having failed to properly check the signals were set against him. The two trains collided on the junction directly north of the station with the goods engine overturning and killing its fireman William Secker, who was crushed under the locomotive after jumping off.

Nationalisation and station closure

Following the 1923 grouping the station was operated by the

London and North Eastern Railway The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) was the second largest (after LMS) of the " Big Four" railway companies created by the Railways Act 1921 in Britain. It operated from 1 January 1923 until nationalisation on 1 January 1948. At th ...

. The second station was itself renamed twice: to ''Stratford Market (West Ham)'' in 1898, resuming the name ''Stratford Market'' in 1923. Following nationalisation of the railways in 1948 the station became part of British Railways Eastern Region. The North Sea floods of 31 January 1953 saw tracks in the station flooded. The station closed on 6 May 1957 due to lack of traffic and the proximity of the larger Stratford station, which was also served by other lines. The tracks remained however, with services continuing 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 ...

Docklands Light Railway

The line through the station site to

closed in December 2006 for works to start on conversion 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 ...

to Docklands Light Railway (DLR) operation. The station reopened as Stratford High Street as part of the Stratford International extension on 31 August 2011.

Design

The original red brick station buildings from the original station still stand on the south side of Stratford High Street. It is provided with a footbridge connection to Bridge Road in order to provide access to the surrounding areas. In order to locate the DLR station here part of Bridge Road has been permanently closed to vehicles except for emergency access, and access into Burford Road from the A118 blocked. This avoided the need to take land from

Rokeby School Rokeby School is an 11–16 secondary school for boys located in Canning Town, Greater London, England. In 2010 the school relocated to new building on the Barking Road. Facilities at the school include technology and ICT rooms, a six court ind ...

whilst also enabling the station to be located close to Stratford High Street. Along with

Abbey Road ''Abbey Road'' is the eleventh studio album by the English rock band the Beatles. It is the last album the group started recording, although '' Let It Be'' was the last album completed before the band's break-up in April 1970. It was mostly ...

, Stratford and Star Lane - the station has artwork ''Places of Exchange'' by Scottish artist Toby Paterson - tessellated patterns inspired by the local area, etched into the glass panels of the station.

Services and connections

Stratford High Street stn high southbound

Off-peak, trains run every ten minutes to

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 ...

to the North and Woolwich Arsenal to the South. In the peak hours trains run every eight minutes.

London Bus Buses have been used as a mode of public transport in London since 1829, when George Shillibeer started operating a horse-drawn ''omnibus'' service from Paddington to the City of London. In the decades since their introduction, the red London ...

routes 25, 276, 425, D8 and night route N8 and N25 also serve the station from nearby bus stops.

Goods depot

In 1879, the

opened a wholesale fruit and vegetable market at Stratford at Stratford to rival

. To serve this market, a large goods depot was located south of the station on the western side of the line. Additionally, a coal depot served the Patent Victoria Stone Works. In 1907 the market depot became the centre for the distribution of bananas in London with Fyfes and Elders both having depots on the site. Around this time the depot had capacity for 400 wagons (a standard wagon being long). The depot closed in the 1960s although the sidings were used for storage of withdrawn rolling stock for a number of years afterwards. After 112 years, the wholesale market at Stratford closed on 13 May 1991, moving to New Spitalfields Market in

Leyton Leyton () is a town in east London, England, within the London Borough of Waltham Forest. It borders Walthamstow to the north, Leytonstone to the east, and Stratford to the south, with Clapton, Hackney Wick and Homerton, across the River L ...

. The market buildings and sidings were demolished in 1992 to make way for 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 ...

depot.

References

External links

Google street view of Stratford Market station building and Stratford High Street DLR station under construction
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stratford High Street Dlr Station Docklands Light Railway stations in the London Borough of Newham Former Eastern Counties and Thames Junction Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1847 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1892 Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1892 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1957 Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 2011 1847 establishments in England