Upney () 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 on Upney Lane in

Barking Barking may refer to: Places * Barking, London, a town in East London, England ** London Borough of Barking, 1965–1980 ** Municipal Borough of Barking, 1931–1965 ** Barking (UK Parliament constituency) ** Barking (electoral division), Greater ...

in the

London Borough of Barking and Dagenham The London Borough of Barking and Dagenham () is a London boroughs, London borough in East London. The borough was created in 1965 as the London Borough of Barking; the name was changed in 1980. It is an Outer London borough and the south is wi ...

, east London. It is on the

District line The District line is a London Underground line running from in the east and Edgware Road tube station (Circle, District and Hammersmith & City lines), Edgware Road in the west to in west London, where it splits into multiple branches. One br ...

between to the west and to the east. It is along the line from the eastern terminus at and to in central London. The station was opened on 12 September 1932 by the

London, Midland and Scottish Railway The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSIt has been argued that the initials LMSR should be used to be consistent with London and North Eastern Railway, LNER, Great Western Railway, GWR and Southern Railway (UK), SR. The London, Midland an ...

with an additional pair of tracks that were constructed to serve the electric

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 ...

local service from Barking to Upminster. The single-storey brick building is of a common design also constructed at other stations on the eastern portion of the line. It is in London fare zone 4.

History

The original route of the

London, Tilbury and Southend Railway The London, Tilbury and Southend Railway (LT&SR), was a British railway company, whose network connected Fenchurch Street railway station, Fenchurch Street station, in central London, with destinations in east London and Essex, including , , , T ...

from Forest Gate junction on the

Eastern Counties Railway The Eastern Counties Railway (ECR) was an English railway company incorporated in 1836 intended to link London with Ipswich via Colchester, and then extend to Norwich and Yarmouth. Construction began in 1837 on the first at the London end. Co ...

was constructed through the Barking area in 1854, with a station at

. A new more direct route between Barking and Pitsea was constructed between 1885 and 1888. It passed through the site of the current Upney station but it was not built at this time. The

Whitechapel and Bow Railway The Whitechapel and Bow Railway was an underground railway in London from Whitechapel to Bow. It is now entirely integrated into the London Underground system. It was a joint venture between the District Railway and the London, Tilbury and S ...

opened in 1902 and allowed through services of the

to operate to Upminster. The District converted to electric trains in 1905 and services were cut back to . Delayed by

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, electrified tracks were extended by the

(LMS) to Upminster and District Railway services resumed on 12 September 1932. The new tracks built by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway allowed additional intermediate stations to be constructed on the local lines. Increased local demand was caused by the building of the

Becontree Becontree ( or Both pronunciations are given as Received Pronunciation in the Longman Pronunciation Dictionary, but the form is prioritised (). The dialectologist Peter Wright wrote in 1981 that is the traditional pronunciation in the cockney ...

estate by the

London County Council The London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today ...

(LCC) during the

interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period, also known as the interbellum (), lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days) – from the end of World War I (WWI) to the beginning of World War II ( ...

. In 1920 the Upney Lane site for a station had been identified by the

Midland Railway The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844 in rail transport, 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had ...

and the LCC. The

infill station An infill station (sometimes in-fill station) is a train station built on an existing passenger rail, rapid transit, or light rail line to address demand in a location between existing stations. Such stations take advantage of existing train ser ...

was opened with platforms on the local electric lines on 12 September 1932. The station was built to the designs of LMS architect William Henry Hamlyn, drawing inspiration from

station architecture. Electric train service was initially a train every 10 minutes at peak times and every 20 minutes off-peak. The District Railway was incorporated into London Transport in 1933 and became known as the

. The station was operated by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway but was only served by District Railway trains. After nationalisation of the railways in 1948 management of the station passed to

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Comm ...

ways. On 1 January 1969 ownership of the station transferred to the

Design

Upney tube station - panoramio - huk mac

The station consists of a central

island platform An island platform (also center platform (American English) or centre platform (British English)) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway inte ...

—numbered 1 for westbound and 2 for eastbound—between the tracks. There are four tracks through the site although there are no platforms for the

London, Tilbury and Southend line The London, Tilbury and Southend line, also known as Essex Thameside, is a commuter railway line on the Rail transport in Great Britain, British railway system. It connects Fenchurch Street railway station, Fenchurch Street station, in central ...

. The full length of the platform is covered by a single canopy with a central waiting room and public toilet. The

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

ticket office is located above platform level, to which it is connected by a long sloping walkway that provides step-free access from the platform to the street. As part of the

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 ...

arrangement for maintenance of the London Underground, the station was due to be refurbished by Metronet. Following the collapse of Metronet, responsibility of station upkeep was transferred to Transport for London in 2008. Transport for London has assigned the station to the 'limited works' category and plans to complete these improvements incrementally, according to the need to preserve assets.

Location

The station is named after Upney Lane in

on which it is located, in the

. Becontree station is to the east of the station and Barking is to the west. It is along the line from in central London and from the eastern terminus at Upminster. The station is 8 miles and 36 chains down the line from

Fenchurch Street Fenchurch Street is a street in London, England, 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 cor ...

. 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 ...

route 62, providing connections to

Chadwell Heath Chadwell Heath is an area in East London, England. It is split between the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham and the London Borough of Redbridge, around west of Romford and east of Ilford, and north-east of Charing Cross. History Topon ...

Dagenham Dagenham () is a town in East London, England, within the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. Dagenham is centred east of Charing Cross. It was historically a rural parish in the Becontree Hundred of Essex, stretching from Hainault Fo ...

and Marks Gate.

Services

The station is in London fare zone 4. The typical off-peak service from the station is 12

trains per hour to Upminster and 12 to

Earl's Court Earl's Court is a district of Kensington in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in West London, bordering the rail tracks of the West London line and District line that separate it from the ancient borough of Fulham to the west, the ...

, of which six continue to

Ealing Broadway Ealing () is a district in west London (sub-region), west London, England, west of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Ealing. It is the administrative centre of the borough and is identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Pl ...

and six continue to

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

. At

peak Peak or The Peak may refer to: Basic meanings Geology * Mountain peak ** Pyramidal peak, a mountaintop that has been sculpted by erosion to form a point Mathematics * Peak hour or rush hour, in traffic congestion * Peak (geometry), an (''n''-3)-d ...

periods the number of trains per hour increases to 15 and some trains continue from Earl's Court to

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...

. Services towards central London operate from approximately 05:15 to 00:00 and services to Upminster operate from approximately 05:45 to 01:15. The journey time to Upminster is approximately 15 minutes, to Barking two minutes and to

Tower Hill Tower Hill is the area surrounding the Tower of London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is infamous for the public execution of high status prisoners from the late 14th to the mid 18th century. The execution site on the higher gro ...

in central London 25 minutes. With 2.15 million entries and exits in 2023, it ranked 209th busiest London Underground station.

Notes

References

External links

* * {{District line navbox District line stations Former London, Midland and Scottish Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1932 Tube stations in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham William Henry Hamlyn buildings