Whilst all the other stations on the East London line are about a century old, this one's nigh brand new. The Victorians didn't bother to build a station here, there was no need. Rotherhithe station's only a few hundred yards to the north, and Surrey Quays only slightly further to the south, not far to walk at all. And there was nothing much here at the time either, just the big watery expanse of the Canada Dock, and a lot of blokes unloading bacon, cheese, grain and timber.
Nowadays only the northern half of Canada Dock remains. It's become an ecology park, apparently, which seems to mean a few bushes along the water's edge, one twirly wind turbine and some remote ducks sitting on a small wooden raft in the middle. Looming over the area is a fortified grey box - Harmsworth Quays - within which copies of the Daily Mail and Evening Standard roll hot off the presses. According to big lettering on the roof this is "the home of quality newspapers", although some might beg to differ. There's an enormous sports shop here too, the legendary Decathlon. Unlike JJB Sports and other chav-outfitters, this long warehouse sells proper equipment for playing proper sports, and at very reasonable prices. If you can't afford one of the local townhouses or apartments, maybe a £20 tent will do.
And today there's a station. The Jubilee line extension cut through in 1999, and a brand new interchange with the East London line was required. It's all posh chrome, grey tiles and dazzling open space underground, with a giant circular glass atrium above. The whole structure provides a huge contrast to every other ramshackle station elsewhere along the line. But there's still a surprising amount of nothingness outside. This is some of the ripest prime estate in southeast London, but at the moment much of the immediate area remains as waste grassland cut through by muddy commuter-eroded footpaths. There's an ongoing battle between the landowners (who see a multi-million pound investment opportunity - mmm, shops and highrise apartment blocks) and localcampaigners (who see a valuable community resource - mmm, swans and water features). So far the environmentalists have managed to protect the remainder of Canada Dock from infill, but much of the surrounding area remains earmarked for some very serious commercial redevelopment. The car park's going to be built on, for a start, and that sports shop will make way for a hotel and swimming pool. Once pretty much nowhere, it looks like Canada Water is already doomed to become a mighty big somewhere.
Canada Water Opened: 19th August 1999 Platforms: squat, sleek and very grey Change here for:Jubilee line, lots of buses Distance from the next station down the line: it's only 550m to Surrey Quays (which is visible from the northbound platform) Distance from the next station up the line: it's only 320m to Rotherhithe (the fourth shortest inter-station journey on the entire tube network) Exit: an epic ascent up a series of escalators, across an expansive subterranean hall, through a row of ticket barriers, up some more escalators, finally emerging from inside a giant glass drum Outside the station: bus station, tower blocks on the Canada Estate, a big dock, swimming ducks, undeveloped wasteland Annual passenger throughflow: 7.6 million
The East London line: Canada Water
Nowadays only the northern half of Canada Dock remains. It's become an ecology park, apparently, which seems to mean a few bushes along the water's edge, one twirly wind turbine and some remote ducks sitting on a small wooden raft in the middle. Looming over the area is a fortified grey box - Harmsworth Quays - within which copies of the Daily Mail and Evening Standard roll hot off the presses. According to big lettering on the roof this is "the home of quality newspapers", although some might beg to differ. There's an enormous sports shop here too, the legendary Decathlon. Unlike JJB Sports and other chav-outfitters, this long warehouse sells proper equipment for playing proper sports, and at very reasonable prices. If you can't afford one of the local townhouses or apartments, maybe a £20 tent will do.
Opened: 19th August 1999
