West India Quay DLR station

West India Quay
West India Quay Location of West India Quay in Greater London
Location	West India Quay
Local authority	London Borough of Tower Hamlets
Managed by	Docklands Light Railway
Number of platforms	3
Accessible	Yes [1]
Fare zone	2
OSI	Canary Wharf (2018)
DLR annual boardings and alightings
2012	1.394 million[2]
2013	1.412 million[3]
2014	1.507 million[3]
2015	1.326 million[3]
Railway companies
Original company	Docklands Light Railway
Key dates
31 August 1987	Opened
14 October 1991	Closed temporarily
28 June 1993	Reopened
Other information
Lists of stations	DLR Underground National Rail Tramlink
London Transport portalCoordinates: 51°30′24″N 0°01′13″W / 51.5067°N 0.0203°W

West India Quay is a Docklands Light Railway (DLR) station in West India Quay in east London, England. It is situated at the point where the line from Lewisham splits into branches to Tower Gateway/Bank and Stratford. The next stations on each line are Canary Wharf DLR station (to Lewisham), Westferry (to Tower Gateway/Bank) and Poplar DLR station (to Stratford). The station is in Travelcard Zone 2.

Location and Connections

West India Quay station is located over the northern half of the dock of the same name in the central portion of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Situated to the south of Billingsgate Road and Aspen Way (A1261), the station is near the edge of the main Docklands re-development area.

The distance from West India Quay DLR to Canary Wharf DLR is just 0.124 miles (199 m),^[4] the shortest distance on the entire London Underground and Docklands Light Railway system. Indeed, while standing at the station, the platforms for Canary Wharf are clearly visible just down the line. This can also be seen at Heron Quays station.

West India Quay will be the closest DLR station to the Canary Wharf Crossrail station when it opens in 2018.

The station is not served by any London Buses Routes.

History

The station opened in 1987, but was closed from 1991 to 1993 as the surrounding area was rebuilt. The station is near to the Museum in Docklands and the adjoining hotel and leisure facilities on the north quay of West India Docks, and indeed the platforms of the station extend over part of the dock.

Late 2000s upgrades

Between March and October 2007 the station's canopy was replaced in a £1.85m project funded by Transport for London.^[5] Throughout the project, TfL highlighted the sustainable nature of the project through its use of recycled materials while justifying the replacement as necessary due to the increasingly windy conditions as a result of taller developments nearby.^[5]

Construction was completed in May 2009 of a new single track dive-under as part of the current capacity upgrades. A ramp takes trains from Bank to Canary Wharf under the current Canary Wharf to Poplar track. The new track bypasses West India Quay, before coming back up to rejoin the route to Canary Wharf. In order to construct the new track next to West India Quay the easternmost platform (Platform 1) had been demolished. A consequence of this was, that during construction, trains from Canary Wharf to Poplar and trains from Bank to Canary Wharf had to cross each other at the same level which limited junction capacity.

The work was completed in May 2009 but the bypass track was not commissioned until 24 August. It is used Monday-Friday until 1900 by all trains running from Bank to Lewisham but trains running in the opposite direction still call at West India Quay even during peak hours.

Station layout

Until the Delta Junction upgrade in 2009, West India Quay used to contain four platforms with four tracks. From west to east (platform 4 to 1) these platforms served trains to Westferry, to Poplar, from Westferry, and from Poplar. After reconstruction, the old platform 1 ceased to exist, but re-numbering occurred and trains from Poplar now arrive on the eastern track.^[6]

References

1. "Step free Tube Guide" (PDF). Transport for London. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 June 2015.
2. Transport for London (12 February 2013). "Freedom of Information DLR usage 1213". Transport for London. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
3. "Up-to-date DLR entry/exit statistics for each station" (XLSX). What Do They Know. Transport for London. 18 March 2016. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
4. Yonge, John (November 2008) [1994]. Jacobs, Gerald, ed. Railway Track Diagrams 5: Southern & TfL (3rd ed.). Bradford on Avon: Trackmaps. map 48. ISBN 978-0-9549866-4-3.
5. "West India Quay Station works completed" (Press release). Transport for London. 2007-10-29. Retrieved 2007-10-29.
6. Delta Junction enhancement Transport for London Retrieved 19 July 2010

External links

• Docklands Light Railway website - West India Quay station page
• Article on the replacement of the canopies