Woolwich Arsenal station is a

National Rail National Rail (NR) is the trading name licensed for use by the Rail Delivery Group, an unincorporated association whose membership consists of the passenger train operating companies (TOCs) of England, Scotland, and Wales. The TOCs run the p ...

and

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 ...

(DLR) paired

interchange station An interchange station or a transfer station is a train station for more than one railway route in a public transport system that allows passengers to change from one route to another, often without having to leave a station or pay an additional ...

in the heart of

Woolwich Woolwich () is a district in southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was maintained throu ...

in the

Royal Borough of Greenwich The Royal Borough of Greenwich (, , or ) is a London borough in southeast Greater London. The London Borough of Greenwich was formed in 1965 by the London Government Act 1963. The new borough covered the former area of the Metropolitan Borough ...

. It has two parts; its raised, south-western part of the station is on the semi-slow, commuter service, corollary of the

North Kent Line The North Kent Line is a railway line which branches off the South East Main Line at St Johns junction west of Lewisham station in Greater London and runs to Rochester Bridge Junction near Strood, Medway where it links to the Chatham Main Li ...

and also in its Dartford Loop services section between London and

Dartford Dartford is the principal town in the Borough of Dartford, Kent, England. It is located south-east of Central London and is situated adjacent to the London Borough of Bexley to its west. To its north, across the Thames estuary, is Thurrock in ...

, run by

Southeastern The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...

. Regular services beyond Dartford are to the

Medway Towns Medway is a unitary authority district and conurbation in Kent, South East England. It had a population of 278,016 in 2019. The unitary authority was formed in 1998 when Rochester-upon-Medway amalgamated with the Borough of Gillingham to f ...

, which start/finish in the opposite direction at

Luton Luton () is a town and unitary authority with borough status, in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 census, the Luton built-up area subdivision had a population of 211,228 and its built-up area, including the adjacent towns of Dunstable an ...

via 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 fr ...

West Hampstead West Hampstead is an area in the London Borough of Camden in north-west London. Mainly defined by the railway stations of the same name, it is situated between Childs Hill to the north, Frognal and Hampstead to the north-east, Swiss Cottage to ...

and

St Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major ...

. Its other part is the terminus of its own branch of the DLR, run by Transport for London. The modernist, but older, part of the station is on a corner of General Gordon Square, a green

town square A town square (or square, plaza, public square, city square, urban square, or ''piazza'') is an open public space, commonly found in the heart of a traditional town but not necessarily a true square, geometric square, used for community gathe ...

. The newer part has entrances to Woolwich's subterranean end of the DLR, and faces the top of

Powis Street Powis Street is a partly pedestrianised shopping street in Woolwich in the Royal Borough of Greenwich, south east London, England. It was laid out in the late 18th century and was named after the Powis brothers, who developed most of the land i ...

, a long, semi-pedestrianised retail avenue. It is named after the area's Woolwich or Royal Arsenal, to distinguish the Arsenal site from the former

Royal Dockyard Royal Navy Dockyards (more usually termed Royal Dockyards) were state-owned harbour facilities where ships of the Royal Navy were built, based, repaired and refitted. Until the mid-19th century the Royal Dockyards were the largest industrial ...

, which before the 19th century was complemented with wharves and yards for large naval ships. In zoning it is the furthest DLR station – in

Travelcard Zone 4 Fare zone 4 is an outer 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. It ...

. On the

national National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

network, it is down from .

History

The station opened in 1849, serving the

from London to Gillingham. The station building was rebuilt in 1906 in a London brick form typical of southeast London. It was again rebuilt in 1992–93 to a modern design in steel and glass by the Architecture and Design Group of British Rail, under the leadership of Nick Derbyshire. It has a, clean, naturally-lit ellipsoid theme, contrasting with the earlier forms. In 1973 a government report on the redevelopment of London's Docklands projected a greater form of the never-built "

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 and on towards

Thamesmead Thamesmead is an area of south-east London, England, straddling the border between the Royal Borough of Greenwich and the London Borough of Bexley. It is located east of Charing Cross, north-east of Woolwich and west of Erith. It mainly consi ...

, with a preceding stop at

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 ...

. The Fleet line plans were shelved in favour of a route that became the western part of the Jubilee line. Council (local government)-approved however in 1980, finances meant that the Fleet line was never built. By the start of the 1990s plans emerged in both levels of government and business forums for the Jubilee Line Extension to serve the south bank of the Thames twice on its way to Stratford. In the Royal Borough of Greenwich the line takes in a small area, North Greenwich (a peninsula). Woolwich Arsenal was expanded in 2009, when Transport for London completed the construction of an extension of what was then termed the

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 ...

branch of the

from

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 Que ...

to Woolwich Arsenal. The official opening took place on 12 January that year. In 2014, a petition was started and presented to the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, to rezone Woolwich Arsenal station from Zone 4 to Zone 3. However he ruled this out, stating it would cause losses of over a million pounds a year.

Accidents and incidents

*On 18 November 1948, a train – an electric multiple unit – crashed into the rear of another train, killing two people. It had departed from against signals.

Design

Docklands Light Railway - Woolwich Arsenal station

The National Rail part of the station consists of two above-ground platforms. The up platform for London has a refreshment facility. The down platform serves trains going east, towards north Kent, via

Plumstead Plumstead is an area in southeast London, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich, England. It is located east of Woolwich. History Until 1965, Plumstead was in the historic counties of England, historic county of Kent and the detail of mu ...

Abbey Wood Abbey Wood is an area in south east London, England, straddling the border between the Royal Borough of Greenwich and the London Borough of Bexley. It is located east of Charing Cross. Toponymy The area takes its name from Lesnes Abbey Woo ...

and

Slade Green Slade Green is an area of South East London, England, within the London Borough of Bexley. It lies northeast of Bexleyheath, northwest of Dartford and south of Erith, and east-southeast of Charing Cross. Historically Slade Green was part o ...

. The Docklands Light Railway part of the station is underground, and consists of two platforms in an

island platform An island platform (also center platform, centre platform) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway interchange. Island platforms are popular on ...

configuration. As Woolwich Arsenal is a terminus, both platforms serve an up line to

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 ...

or Stratford International via

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 ...

. Trains depart in the eastbound direction due to the curve under 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 ...

Connections

London Buses London Buses is the subsidiary of Transport for London (TfL) that manages most bus services in London, England. It was formed following the Greater London Authority Act 1999 that transferred control of London Regional Transport (LRT) bus se ...

routes 51, 53, 54, 96, 99, 122,

161 Year 161 ( CLXI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Caesar and Aurelius (or, less frequently, year 914 '' Ab urbe condi ...

177 Year 177 ( CLXXVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Commodus and Plautius (or, less frequently, year 930 ''Ab urbe co ...

, 178,

180 __NOTOC__ Year 180 ( CLXXX) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Rusticus and Condianus (or, less frequently, year 933 '' Ab ...

244 __NOTOC__ Year 244 (Roman numerals, CCXLIV) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Tiberius Pollenius Armenius Peregrinus, Arm ...

, 291, 301, 380, 386, 422, 469, 472, school route

658 __NOTOC__ Year 658 (Roman numerals, DCLVIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 658 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domi ...

and night routes N1 and N53 serve the station.

Crossrail station at the former Royal Arsenal base

In May 2022 a

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 ...

station opened in north-east Woolwich, after a campaign to complement housing developments built on former public-sector land. Among the successful lobbyists for this extra station were those who developed the land, including Berkeley Homes. It is about 200m north of the Woolwich Arsenal station on the north side of the

A206 road The A206 road is a road in southeast London and Kent, England. Length Today it is approximately in length, although the final section is a relatively new road. Purpose of route Its primary purpose is to link into the London Orbital motorway ...

Services

National Rail

National Rail services at Woolwich Arsenal are operated by

and

Thameslink Thameslink is a 24-hour main-line route in the British railway system, running from , , , and via central London to Sutton, , , Rainham, , , , and . The network opened as a through service in 1988, with severe overcrowding by 1998, carrying m ...

using , , , and

EMUs Emus may refer to: * Emu The emu () (''Dromaius novaehollandiae'') is the second-tallest living bird after its ratite relative the ostrich. It is endemic to Australia where it is the largest native bird and the only extant member of the g ...

. The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is: * 4 tph to

London Cannon Street Cannon Street station, also known as London Cannon Street, is a central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in Travelcard zone 1 located on Cannon Street in the City of London and managed by Network Rail. It is ...

(2 of these run via and 2 run via ) * 2 tph to via Greenwich * 2 tph to , returning to London Cannon Street via and Lewisham * 2 tph to * 2 tph to via During the peak hours, the station is served by an additional half-hourly circular service to and from

via and Lewisham in the clockwise direction and via Greenwich in the anticlockwise direction.

DLR

The typical DLR service in trains per hour is: * 6 tph to

* 6 tph to

References

External links

{{Closed London Underground stations Docklands Light Railway stations in the Royal Borough of Greenwich Railway stations in the Royal Borough of Greenwich Former South Eastern Railway (UK) stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1849 Railway stations served by Southeastern Woolwich 1849 establishments in England Railway stations located underground in the United Kingdom Unbuilt London Underground stations Proposed London Underground stations Railway stations served by Govia Thameslink Railway