Wapping railway station

Wapping
Wapping Location of Wapping in Greater London
Location	Wapping
Local authority	London Borough of Tower Hamlets
Managed by	London Overground
Owner	Transport for London
Station code(s)	WPE
Number of platforms	2
Fare zone	2
National Rail annual entry and exit
2019–20	2.619 million[1]
2020–21	0.583 million[1]
2021–22	1.644 million[1]
2022–23	2.259 million[1]
2023–24	2.556 million[1]
Key dates
7 December 1869	Opened as Wapping and Shadwell
10 April 1876	Renamed Wapping
1 October 1884	First Underground service
27 April 2010[2]	Reopened
Other information
External links	Departures Facilities
Coordinates	51.5044°N 0.0558°W / 51.5044; -0.0558
London transport portal

Wapping is a station on the Windrush line of the London Overground, located on the northern bank of the River Thames in Wapping within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The station is between Shadwell and Rotherhithe stations, and is in Travelcard Zone 2.^[3]

After temporary closures for remodelling, the station reopened for preview services on 27 April 2010 for services to New Cross and New Cross Gate, and from 23 May 2010 trains to and from New Cross Gate were extended to West Croydon and Crystal Palace.^[4]

History

Construction

A 1908 Railway Clearing House map of lines in South East London, including the southern portion of the East London Line

The station occupies the north end of the former Thames foot tunnel built by Marc Isambard Brunel between 1825 and 1843, and subsequently adapted for railway traffic. Access to the station is by lift or a flight of stairs built into one of the original access shafts of the Thames Tunnel.^[5]

London, Brighton and South Coast Railway

Locomotive exiting the Thames Tunnel and arriving at what is now Wapping station. Illustrated London News 8 January 1870.

The station was originally opened as the northern terminus of the East London Railway^[6] on 7 December 1869 as Wapping and Shadwell, and the station was renamed Wapping on 10 April 1876,^[7] when the line was extended northwards to Liverpool Street,^[6] via a new station at Shadwell. The earliest trains were provided by the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway, whose system connected with the line at New Cross Gate.^[8][6]

London Underground

Wapping station as it appeared in 2006 with London Underground branding. The entrance has since been moved from the corner to the front.

Underground trains of the Metropolitan and the District Railways first served the station on 1 October 1884,^[9] but the station was last served by District trains on 31 July 1905.^[9][10]

In 1980 a London Underground plan to extend the Jubilee line to Woolwich Arsenal and Beckton was approved by Parliament.^[11] This included a station at Wapping, but was never built. The extension constructed in the 1990s followed a different route to the south of the River Thames.

The station was extensively remodelled between 1995 and 1998, when the entire East London line — including Wapping station — was closed due to repair work on the tunnels under the Thames. Vitreous enamel panels by Nick Hardcastle,^[12][13] showing the station and the area in former and modern times, were installed on the platforms.

London Overground

London Overground train at the northbound platform of Wapping station in 2015. The station's narrow and curved platforms have been identified as a safety hazard.

The East London line of the Underground closed on 22 December 2007, and reopened on 27 April 2010 when it became part of the new London Overground system. During this time the station was heavily refurbished.

The proposed extension of the East London line raised concerns that the station would have to be closed due to its platforms being too short (only four cars long) to accommodate the new rolling stock planned for the extended line (which could be six or eight cars long). The narrowness of the platforms was also a concern. The station does not fully meet the safety standards for an underground station but is permitted to operate under a derogation from His Majesty's Railway Inspectorate.^[14] Despite this, on 16 August 2004 then-Mayor of London Ken Livingstone announced that the station would remain open.^[15]

The station is served by National Rail London Overground services under the control of the London Rail division of Transport for London, however there is no standard red National Rail "double arrow" logo signage located at the station, instead only the Overground roundel.^[16]

Services

v t e Windrush Line
London Overground
Highbury & Islington Canonbury Dalston Junction Haggerston Kingsland Viaduct Hoxton Shoreditch High Street Whitechapel Shadwell ( Shadwell) Wapping Thames Tunnel under River Thames Rotherhithe Canada Water Surrey Quays Queens Road Peckham New Cross Peckham Rye New Cross Gate Denmark Hill Brockley Clapham High Street ( Clapham North) Honor Oak Park Wandsworth Road Forest Hill Battersea Park (limited) Sydenham Clapham Junction Crystal Palace Penge West Anerley Norwood Junction West Croydon

All times below are correct as of the December 2010 timetables.

London Overground

Windrush line

Wapping is served by the Windrush line of the London Overground. On Mondays to Saturdays there is a service every 5–10 minutes throughout the day, while on Sundays before 13:00 there is a service every 5–9 minutes, changing to every 7–8 minutes until the end of service after that.^[17] Current off peak frequency is:

• 8 northbound to Highbury & Islington
• 8 northbound to Dalston Junction
• 4 southbound to Clapham Junction via Peckham Rye
• 4 southbound to Crystal Palace via New Cross Gate
• 4 southbound to New Cross
• 4 southbound to West Croydon via Norwood Junction

Connections

London Buses routes 100 and D3 serve the station.^[18]

In popular culture

The Wapping railway station features in the 1967 film To Sir, with Love.^[19]

References

1. "Estimates of station usage". Rail statistics. Office of Rail Regulation. Please note: Some methodology may vary year on year.
2. BBC London:The new East London Line opens to the public Archived 18 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine Accessed 27 April 2010
3. Baker 2007, p. 22, section B1
4. "Mayor accused of railway 'stunt'". BBC News. 14 April 2010. Archived from the original on 17 April 2010. Retrieved 17 April 2010.
5. Day 1979, p. 33
6. Day 1979, p. 31
7. Butt 1995, p. 241
8. "Key facts: East London line history". Transport for London. 25 November 2009. Archived from the original on 31 January 2010. Retrieved 9 January 2010.
9. Rose 2007
10. Day 1979, p. 32
11. Horne 2000, pp. 50–52.
12. "Editorial Artist and Illustrator in Sussex and London-Nick Hardcastle". nickhardcastle.co.uk. Archived from the original on 20 February 2019. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
13. diamond geezer (6 June 2006). "Wapping". Archived from the original on 18 October 2015. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
14. "The Future of Wapping London Underground station" (PDF). Tower Hamlets London Borough Council. 28 January 2003. Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 14 July 2017.
15. East London Line Archived 15 February 2005 at the Wayback Machine
16. "London Overground Signs Standard – Issue 3" (PDF). Transport for London. 3 August 2009. p. 18. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2 May 2015. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
17. Table 178 National Rail timetable, May 2016
18. "Wapping Station". TfL. Retrieved 17 May 2020.
19. "To Sir, With Love". Movie-Locations.com. Retrieved 11 January 2022.

Bibliography

• Baker, S.K. (April 2007) [1977]. Rail Atlas Great Britain & Ireland (11th ed.). Hersham: Oxford Publishing Co. ISBN 978-0-86093-602-2. 0704/K.
• Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508.
• Day, John R. (1979) [1963]. The Story of London's Underground (6th ed.). Westminster: London Transport. ISBN 0-85329-094-6. 1178/211RP/5M(A).
• Horne, Mike (2000). The Jubilee Line. Capital Transport. ISBN 1-85414-220-8.
• Rose, Douglas (December 2007) [1980]. The London Underground: A Diagrammatic History (8th ed.). Harrow Weald: Capital Transport. ISBN 978-1-85414-315-0.

Preceding station	London Overground			Following station
Shadwell towards Dalston Junction or Highbury & Islington		Windrush line East London line		Rotherhithe towards Clapham Junction, Crystal Palace, New Cross or West Croydon
Former services
Preceding station	London Underground			Following station
Shadwell towards Hammersmith		Metropolitan line (1884–1906) (1913–39)		Rotherhithe towards New Cross or New Cross Gate
Shadwell towards Wimbledon, Richmond, Ealing Broadway or South Harrow		District line (1884–1905)		Rotherhithe towards New Cross Gate
Shadwell towards Shoreditch		East London line (1913-2006)		Rotherhithe towards New Cross or New Cross Gate
Abandoned Plans
Preceding station	London Underground			Following station
St Katharine Docks towards Stanmore		Jubilee line Phase 3 (1980) (never constructed)		Surrey Docks North towards Woolwich Arsenal or Beckton