West India Quay 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 ...

(DLR) station in

Canary Wharf Canary Wharf is an area of London, England, located near the Isle of Dogs in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Canary Wharf is defined by the Greater London Authority as being part of London's central business district, alongside Central Lon ...

’s

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 ...

. It is located at the point where the line from

Lewisham Lewisham () is an area of southeast London, England, south of Charing Cross. It is the principal area of the London Borough of Lewisham, and was within the historic county of Kent until 1889. It is identified in the London Plan as one of ...

splits into branches to Tower Gateway/

Bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Because ...

and Stratford. The next stations on each line are

Canary Wharf DLR station Canary Wharf is a Docklands Light Railway (DLR) station in the Canary Wharf in East London. The station was built into the base of One Canada Square itself, between two parts of a shopping centre,

(to Lewisham), Westferry (to Tower Gateway/Bank) and Poplar DLR station (to Stratford). The station is 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 ...

Location and connections

West India Quay station is located over the northern half of the dock of the same name in southeast end of

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 ...

and is very close to both Poplar and

, and is in the central portion of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Situated to the south of Billingsgate Road and Aspen Way (A1261), the station is near the edge of the main Docklands re-development area. The distance from West India Quay DLR to Canary Wharf DLR is just , the shortest distance between stations on the entire

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 ...

and

system. Indeed, while standing at the station, the platforms for Canary Wharf are clearly visible just down the line, as is the following station Heron Quays station, from which Canary Wharf and West India Quay are also visible in the opposite direction. West India Quay is the closest DLR station to the

Canary Wharf railway station Canary Wharf is an Elizabeth line station in Canary Wharf in East London, England. The station forms an artificial island in the West India Docks (North Dock). The five upper levels of the station are a mixed-use development known as Crossra ...

served by the

Elizabeth line The Elizabeth line is a high-frequency hybrid urban–suburban rail service in London and its suburbs. It runs services on dedicated infrastructure in central London from the Great Western Main Line west of Paddington to and via Whitechapel ...

. The station is not served by any London Buses Routes. As of April 2017 DLR trains from Bank towards Lewisham do not stop at this station, meaning to reach here from the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...

passengers must travel on to Canary Wharf and get the next train in the opposite direction.tfl.gov.uk

History

The station opened in 1987 but was closed from 1991 to 1993 as the surrounding area was rebuilt. The station is near to the

Museum in Docklands The Museum of London Docklands (formerly known as Museum in Docklands), based in West India Quay, explains the history of the River Thames, the growth of Port of London and the docks historical link to the Atlantic slave trade. The museum is pa ...

and the adjoining hotel and leisure facilities on the north quay of

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 ...

, and indeed the platforms of the station extend over part of the dock.

Late 2000s upgrades

Between March and October 2007 the station's canopy was replaced in a £1.85m project funded by Transport for London. Throughout the project, TfL highlighted the sustainable nature of the project through its use of recycled materials while justifying the replacement as necessary due to the increasingly windy conditions as a result of taller developments nearby. Construction was completed in May 2009 of a new single track dive-under as part of the current capacity upgrades. A ramp takes trains from Bank to Canary Wharf under the current Canary Wharf to Poplar track. The new track goes around West India Quay, before coming back up to rejoin the route to Canary Wharf. To construct the new track next to West India Quay the easternmost platform (Platform 1) had to be demolished. A consequence of this was, that during construction, trains from Canary Wharf to Poplar and trains from Bank to Canary Wharf had to cross each other at the same level which limited junction capacity. The work was completed in May 2009, but the bypass track was not commissioned until 24 August. It is used by all trains running from Bank to Lewisham, but trains running in the opposite direction still call at West India Quay even during peak hours.

Station layout

Until the Delta Junction upgrade in 2009, West India Quay used to contain four platforms with four tracks. From west to east (platform 4 to 1) these platforms served trains to Westferry, to Poplar, from Westferry, and Poplar. After reconstruction, the old platform 1 ceased to exist, but re-numbering occurred and trains from Poplar now arrive on the eastern track.Delta Junction enhancement
''Transport for London'' Retrieved 19 July 2010

References

External links

Docklands Light Railway website - West India Quay station page

{{DEFAULTSORT:West India Quay Dlr Station Docklands Light Railway stations in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1987 Limehouse