Stratford High Street is a

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 ...

station in Stratford in

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 ...

, England. It is located on the Stratford International branch of the Docklands Light Railway, which opened on 31 August 2011. The site was the location of an earlier railway station from 1847 to 1957, known initially as Stratford Bridge and later as Stratford Market - after the nearby wholesale fruit and vegetable market.

History

The first station on the site was opened as ''Stratford Bridge'' on 14 June 1847 in Stratford on the

Eastern Counties and Thames Junction Railway The Eastern Counties and Thames Junction Railway in east London connected the Royal Docks with the Eastern Counties Railway (ECR). Authorised in 1844, it opened in 1846, and was absorbed by the ECR in 1847. The ECR amalgamated with other railwa ...

(ECR) between Stratford and

Canning Town Canning Town is a town in the London Borough of Newham, East London, England, north of the Royal Victoria Dock. Its urbanisation was largely due to the creation of the dock. The area was part of the ancient parish and County Borough of West Ham, ...

stations. By the 1860s the railways in East Anglia were in financial trouble, and most were leased to the ECR; they wished to amalgamate formally, but could not obtain government agreement for this until 1862, when the

Great Eastern Railway The Great Eastern Railway (GER) was a pre-grouping British railway company, whose main line linked London Liverpool Street to Norwich and which had other lines through East Anglia. The company was grouped into the London and North Eastern R ...

(GER) was formed by amalgamation. Thus Stratford Bridge became a GER station in 1862.

Stratford Market

In 1879, the

opened a wholesale fruit and vegetable market at Stratford to rival

Spitalfields Market Spitalfields Market may refer to: * Old Spitalfields Market, a covered market in Spitalfields, just outside the City of London * New Spitalfields Market New Spitalfields Market is a fruit and vegetable market on a site in Leyton, London Borough ...

, and the station was renamed ''Stratford Market'' on 1 November 1880. The station was resited in 1892 when the line was widened. On the western platform there was a tower that contained steps that allowed direct access over the goods lines to the adjacent Great Eastern Railway's printing works which opened in 1893. the building is still extant.

1905 collision

On 5 April 1905 two trains collided just north of Stratford Market station. At this time there were several junctions between Stratford Low Level platforms and Stratford Market station and a goods train was making a move from the Western Curve to the Goods Lines at Stratford Market. An empty coaching stock train was stopped at Stratford Market station awaiting a path towards Stratford Low Level when the driver, thinking he had the right to proceed, started the train having failed to properly check the signals were set against him. The two trains collided on the junction directly north of the station with the goods engine overturning and killing its fireman William Secker, who was crushed under the locomotive after jumping off.

Nationalisation and station closure

Following the 1923 grouping the station was operated by the

London and North Eastern Railway The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) was the second largest (after London, Midland and Scottish Railway, LMS) of the "Big Four (British railway companies), Big Four" railway companies created by the Railways Act 1921 in Britain. It ope ...

. The second station was itself renamed twice: to ''Stratford Market (West Ham)'' in 1898, resuming the name ''Stratford Market'' in 1923. Following nationalisation of the railways in 1948 the station became part of British Railways Eastern Region. The North Sea floods of 31 January 1953 saw tracks in the station flooded. The station closed on 6 May 1957 due to lack of traffic and the proximity of the larger Stratford station, which was also served by other lines. The tracks remained however, with services continuing to

North Woolwich North Woolwich is an area in the London Borough of Newham in East London, England, on the northern bank of the River Thames, across the river from Woolwich. It is connected to Woolwich by the Woolwich Ferry and Woolwich foot tunnel. Despite ...

Docklands Light Railway

The line through the station site to

closed in December 2006 for works to start on conversion of the North London line to Docklands Light Railway (DLR) operation. The station reopened as Stratford High Street as part of the

Stratford International extension The Docklands Light Railway (DLR) is an automated light metro system primarily serving the redeveloped Docklands area of London and providing a direct connection between London's two major financial districts, Canary Wharf and the City of Lon ...

on 31 August 2011.

Design

The original red brick station buildings from the original station still stand on the south side of Stratford High Street. It is provided with a footbridge connection to Bridge Road in order to provide access to the surrounding areas. In order to locate the DLR station here part of Bridge Road has been permanently closed to vehicles except for emergency access, and access into Burford Road from the A118 blocked. This avoided the need to take land from Rokeby School whilst also enabling the station to be located close to Stratford High Street. Along with

Abbey Road ''Abbey Road'' is the eleventh studio album by the English rock band the Beatles, released on 26 September 1969, by Apple Records. It is the last album the group recorded, although '' Let It Be'' (1970) was the last album completed before th ...

, Stratford and Star Lane - the station has artwork ''Places of Exchange'' by Scottish artist Toby Paterson - tessellated patterns inspired by the local area, etched into the glass panels of the station.

Services

Stratford High Street stn high southbound

The typical off-peak service in trains per hour from Stratford High Street is: * 6 tph to * 6 tph to Additional services call at the station during the peak hours, increasing the service to up to 8 tph in each direction.

Connections

London Bus Buses have been used as a mode of public transport in London since 1829, when George Shillibeer started operating a horse-drawn ''omnibus'' service from Paddington to the City of London. In the decades since their introduction, the red London ...

routes 25, 276, 425, D8 and night route N8 and N25 also serve the station from nearby bus stops.

Goods depot

In 1879, the

opened a wholesale fruit and vegetable market at Stratford at Stratford to rival

. To serve this market, a large goods depot was located south of the station on the western side of the line. Additionally, a coal depot served the Patent Victoria Stone Works. In 1907 the market depot became the centre for the distribution of bananas in London with Fyfes and Elders both having depots on the site. Around this time the depot had capacity for 400 wagons (a standard wagon being long). The depot closed in the 1960s although the sidings were used for storage of withdrawn rolling stock for a number of years afterwards. After 112 years, the wholesale market at Stratford closed on 13 May 1991, moving to

New Spitalfields Market New Spitalfields Market is a fruit and vegetable market on a site in Leyton, London Borough of Waltham Forest in East London. The market is owned and administered by the City of London Corporation. The market is Europe's leading horticultural ma ...

Leyton Leyton ( ) is a town in East London, England, within the London Borough of Waltham Forest. It borders Walthamstow to the north, Leytonstone to the east, and Stratford to the south, with Clapton, Hackney Wick and Homerton, across the Ri ...

. The market buildings and sidings were demolished in 1992 to make way for the

Jubilee line The Jubilee line is a London Underground line that runs between in suburban north-west London and in east London, via the West End of London, West End, South Bank and London Docklands, Docklands. Opened in 1979, it is the newest line on the ...

depot.

References

External links

Stratford High Street DLR station
– Live departures and timetables at Transport for London {{DEFAULTSORT:Stratford High Street Dlr Station Docklands Light Railway stations in the London Borough of Newham Former Eastern Counties and Thames Junction Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1847 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1892 Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1892 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1957 Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 2011 1847 establishments in England