Contents

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
2018–19	2.725 million[1]
2019–20	2.619 million[1]
2020–21	0.583 million[1]
2021–22	1.644 million[1]
2022–23	2.259 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 Layout Facilities Buses
Coordinates	51°30′16″N 0°03′21″W / 51.5044°N 0.0558°W / 51.5044; -0.0558
London transport portal

Wapping is a station on the London overground located on the northern bank of the River ThamesinWapping within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. 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.^[3] The station is between Shadwell and Rotherhithe, and is in Travelcard Zone 2.^[4]

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.^[5]

History[edit]

Construction[edit]

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.^[6]

London, Brighton and South Coast Railway[edit]

The station was originally opened as the northern terminus of the East London Railway^[7] on 7 December 1869 as Wapping and Shadwell, and the station was renamed Wapping on 10 April 1876,^[8] when the line was extended northwards to Liverpool Street,^[7] 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.^[9][7]

London Underground[edit]

Underground trains of the Metropolitan and the District Railways first served the station on 1 October 1884,^[10] but the station was last served by District trains on 31 July 1905.^[10][11]

In 1980 a London Underground plan to extend the Jubilee linetoWoolwich Arsenal and Beckton was approved by Parliament.^[12] 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,^[13][14] showing the station and the area in former and modern times, were installed on the platforms.

London Overground[edit]

The East London Line 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.^[15] Despite this, on 16 August 2004 then-Mayor of London Ken Livingstone announced that the station would remain open.^[16] It is in Travelcard Zone 2.^[4]

Services[edit]

v t e East London Line
Legend
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 Clapham Junction Sydenham Crystal Palace Penge West Anerley Norwood Junction West Croydon

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

London Overground[edit]

East London Line[edit]

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[edit]

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

In popular culture[edit]

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

References[edit]

Bibliography[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Wapping railway station.

• 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 Highbury & IslingtonorDalston Junction		East London line		Rotherhithe towards New Cross, Clapham Junction, Crystal PalaceorWest Croydon
Former services
Preceding station	London Underground			Following station
Shadwell towards Hammersmith		Metropolitan line (1884–1906) (1913–39)		Rotherhithe towards New CrossorNew Cross Gate
Shadwell towards Wimbledon, Richmond, Ealing BroadwayorSouth Harrow		District line (1884–1905)		Rotherhithe towards New Cross Gate
Shadwell towards Shoreditch		East London line (1913-2006)		Rotherhithe towards New CrossorNew 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 ArsenalorBeckton