Mile End is a

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or as the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent home counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The Undergro ...

station in

Mile End Mile End is an area in London, England and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in East London and part of the East End of London, East End. It is east of Charing Cross. Situated on the part of the London-to-Colchester road ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. It is located in Travelcard Zone 2 and is served by three lines: Central,

District A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

and Hammersmith & City. On the Central line, the station is between

Bethnal Green Bethnal Green is an area in London, England, and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in east London and part of the East End of London, East End. The area emerged from the small settlement which developed around the common la ...

and Stratford stations. On the District and Hammersmith & City lines, it is between

Stepney Green Stepney Green Park is a park in Stepney, Tower Hamlets, London. It is a remnant of a larger area of common land. It was formerly known as Mile End Green. During the 2010s, a large area of the park was used on a temporary basis to build Cross ...

and

Bow Road Bow Road is a thoroughfare in Bow, London, England. The road forms part of the A11 road (England), A11, running from Aldgate to Norwich in Norfolk. To the west the road becomes Mile End Road, and to the east is Bow Interchange on the A12 road ...

stations. This station features a

cross-platform interchange A cross-platform interchange is a type of Interchange station, interchange between different lines at a metro (or other railway) station. The term originates with the London Underground; such layouts exist in other networks but are not commonly ...

in both directions; District and Hammersmith & City lines stop on the inside tracks, and the Central line stops on the outside tracks.

History

The station was opened on 2 June 1902 by the Whitechapel & Bow Railway (W&BR) in the

Metropolitan Borough of Stepney The Metropolitan Borough of Stepney was a Metropolitan borough in the County of London created in 1900. In 1965, it became part of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Formation and boundaries The borough was formed from thirteen civil parishes ...

. Electrified services started in 1905. The first services were provided by the

District Railway The Metropolitan District Railway, also known as the District Railway, was a passenger railway that served London, England, from 1868 to 1933. Established in 1864 to complete an " inner circle" of lines connecting railway termini in London, the ...

(now the District line); the

Metropolitan line The Metropolitan line, colloquially known as the Met, is a London Underground line between in the City of London and and in Buckinghamshire, with branches to in Hertfordshire and in London Borough of Hillingdon, Hillingdon. Printed in mage ...

followed in 1936 (In 1988 this section of the Metropolitan was renamed the

Hammersmith & City line The Hammersmith & City line is a London Underground line that runs between Hammersmith in west London and in east London. Coloured pink on the Tube map, it serves 29 stations over . Between and it skirts the City of London, the capital's finan ...

). In 1946, the station was expanded and rebuilt by the Chief Architect of London Underground,

Stanley Heaps Stanley A. Heaps (1880–1962) was an English architect responsible for the design of a number of stations on the London Underground system as well as the design of train depots and bus and trolleybus garages for London Transport. Works ...

and his assistant Thomas Bilbow, as part of the Central line eastern extension, with services starting on 4 December 1946. Following nationalisation of the joint venture owners of the W&BR, full ownership of the station passed to

in 1950. During the development of the

Docklands Light Railway The Docklands Light Railway (DLR) is an automated medium-capacity rail system, light metro system primarily serving the redeveloped London Docklands, Docklands area of London and providing a direct connection between London's two major financi ...

(DLR) in the 1980s, it was to be a tram system. The preferred northern option was to run the DLR along Mile End Road towards a terminus at Mile End tube station. However the Stratford route was picked and the system became a light metro instead. The station has undergone renovation in 2007. Metronet, a company in a

public–private partnership A public–private partnership (PPP, 3P, or P3) is a long-term arrangement between a government and private sectors, private sector institutions.Hodge, G. A and Greve, C. (2007), Public–Private Partnerships: An International Performance Revie ...

with

Transport for London Transport for London (TfL) is a local government body responsible for most of the transport network in London, United Kingdom. TfL is the successor organization of the London Passenger Transport Board, which was established in 1933, and His ...

(TfL), got as far as stripping the station bare before the company collapsed in 2008. After a short changeover period, TfL continued the renovation work. On 5 July 2007, a Central line train was derailed when it hit a roll of fire blanket, which had been blown out of a cross-passage between the two tunnels by the strong crosswinds. In November 2009, part of a plastic barrier broke off from a departing Central line train and struck three commuters. One woman suffered a cut in her forehead, and London Underground Ltd faced a fine of up to £20,000 after admitting liability in the case.

Design and layout

Mile end tube station eastbound central line platform - 2

Mile End is the only station underground on the Tube network that offers

between deep level tube (Central line) and sub-surface (District and Hammersmith & City lines) trains. The station takes its name from the A11 Mile End Road, which itself is named after a

milestone A milestone is a numbered marker placed on a route such as a road, railway, railway line, canal or border, boundary. They can indicate the distance to towns, cities, and other places or landmarks like Mileage sign, mileage signs; or they c ...

marking the point east of the boundary of the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

. However, the stone's position was actually closer to

than Mile End station itself, which is further east, on the junction with Burdett Road.

Notable local places

The station is close to Victoria Park and

Mile End Park Mile End Park is a park located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is a linear park of some , and was created on industrial land devastated by World War II bombing, with the park lying on land to the east of the Regent's Canal. In the n ...

, as well as the

Regent's Canal Regent's Canal is a canal across an area just north of central London, England. It provides a link from the Paddington Arm of the Grand Union Canal, north-west of Paddington Basin in the west, to the Limehouse Basin and the River Thames in ea ...

Queen Mary University of London Queen Mary University of London (QMUL, or informally QM, and formerly Queen Mary and Westfield College) is a public university, public research university in Mile End, East London, England. It is a member institution of the federal University ...

, Mile End Hospital and the now-closed St. Clements Hospital—part of the

Royal London Hospital The Royal London Hospital is a large teaching hospital in Whitechapel in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is part of Barts Health NHS Trust. It provides district general hospital services for the City of London and Tower Hamlets and sp ...

—are nearby.

Connections

The station is served by

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 s ...

daytime and night routes.

Notes

References

External links

{{Metropolitan line navbox District line stations Hammersmith & City line stations Central line (London Underground) stations London Underground Night Tube stations Tube stations in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets Former Whitechapel and Bow Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1902 Stanley Heaps railway stations Mile End