The North London Line is a railway curiosity. It's the only National Rail line to be given prominence on the tube map. It winds around the less fashionable parts of the capital's northern suburbs, taking the most indirect route possible from west to east [map]. The trains are overcrowded, underfunded and infrequent, which means nobody travels this way unless they have to. And tomorrow, exactly one year to the day after the demise of the Routemaster, the North Woolwich end of the North London Line closes down forever. From Sunday NLL trains will run only from Richmond to Stratford, and the remainder of the track will be mothballed. It's au revoir to West Ham, adieu to Canning Town, cheerio to Custom House, goodbye to Silvertown and farewell to North Woolwich. Here's part one of a two-day tribute.
Last train(9th December 2006)
North Woolwich
23:37
Silvertown
23:39
Custom House
23:43
Canning Town
23:46
West Ham
23:48
Stratford
23:53
(where this line terminates)
The past 1846: The Eastern Counties and Thames Junction Railway opens between Stratford and Canning Town, for the transport of coal to Bow Creek. 1847: The line is extended from Canning Town to North Woolwich, alongside the river. 1855: This new stretch of line is diverted inland via Custom House to avoid having to pass over a swingbridge across the new Royal Victoria Dock. The original stretch of line is retained as the "Silvertown Tramway". 1880: Another Thamesside dock opens - the Royal Albert - so the line between Custom House and Silvertown has to be diverted into a new tunnel beneath the basin. the rest: It's really very complicated. More here.
The present Stratford (Low Level): The North London line cuts through shiny Stratford station like an open wound. If only the tracks weren't there, you could nip straight across from the Jubilee line to the exit without needing to negotiate the current escalator assault course. But no, platforms 3 and 4 are still in the way [photo]. The southbound platform, for all stations to North Woolwich, is usually much quieter than its Hackney-bound counterpart opposite. A ragbag handful of passengers wait patiently for one of two trains an hour to curve into view and glide beneath the bridge [photo]. On arrival each purple train disgorges a never-ending stream of passengers, all keen to escape into the welcoming arms of Stratford station. Anything but continue down the line to somewhere insignificant and underdeveloped. Climb on board, against the flow, and you'll easily find a seat amongst the discarded newspapers and general detritus of the departing hordes [photo]. The edge of civilisation is less than a quarter of an hour away.
West Ham: From Stratford south the North London line follows the route of the Jubilee extension. Or rather it's the other way round, because the the NLL was here 150 years earlier than the upstart Jubilee. In a pattern which will be repeated right along the line, there are rows of very ordinary houses to your left balanced by a much more industrialised landscape to your right. At West Ham a long narrow platform juts out from a brick-supported glass girder. It's not as luxurious as the Jubilee platform opposite, more an exposed forgotten backwater with distinctly uncomfortable sloping wooden benches. [photo]
Canning Town: Down the line at Canning Town the North London platform is slightly less intimidating, but just as isolated [photo]. All the action is on the unique double decker platform opposite, with the DLR whirring by on top and the Jubilee line below [photo]. NLL passengers could sit and wait for up to half an hour for a North Woolwich train, while across the tracks there's action a-plenty every couple of minutes [photo]. This unique vantage point will be lost after tomorrow, although you'll still be able to get a not quite as good view from the modern bus station next door. Anybody still on the train travelling eastwards? Not many.
Custom House: Now the NLL follows the Beckton branch of the DLR, east into the heart of "The Royals". Once desolate marshland, the docks here thrived during the late 19th century but couldn't survive the 20th. The most obvious sign of the recent regeneration of the area is the hu-uge ExCel exhibition centre, opened in November 2000, and accessible from the station via a series of concrete walkways. These cavernous exhibition spaces specialise in trade shows and major 'events', only a couple of which I've ever thought interesting enough to visit. And almost all of the visitors arrive either by car or on the DLR, not via the poor old North London Line. This stutters on apologetically eastwards, before veering south round Prince Regent station and into the arched gloom of the Connaught Tunnel. <journey continues tomorrow>
The North London Line is a railway curiosity. It's the only National Rail line to be given prominence on the tube map. It winds around the less fashionable parts of the capital's northern suburbs, taking the most indirect route possible from west to east [map]. The trains are overcrowded, underfunded and infrequent, which means nobody travels this way unless they have to. And tomorrow, exactly one year to the day after the demise of the Routemaster, the North Woolwich end of the North London Line closes down forever. From Sunday NLL trains will run only from Richmond to Stratford, and the remainder of the track will be mothballed. It's au revoir to West Ham, adieu to Canning Town, cheerio to Custom House, goodbye to Silvertown and farewell to North Woolwich. Here's part one of a two-day tribute.
Stratford (Low Level): The North London line cuts through shiny Stratford station like an open wound. If only the tracks weren't there, you could nip straight across from the Jubilee line to the exit without needing to negotiate the current escalator assault course. But no, platforms 3 and 4 are still in the way [photo]. The southbound platform, for all stations to North Woolwich, is usually much quieter than its Hackney-bound counterpart opposite. A ragbag handful of passengers wait patiently for one of two trains an hour to curve into view and glide beneath the bridge [photo]. On arrival each purple train disgorges a never-ending stream of passengers, all keen to escape into the welcoming arms of Stratford station. Anything but continue down the line to somewhere insignificant and underdeveloped. Climb on board, against the flow, and you'll easily find a seat amongst the discarded newspapers and general detritus of the departing hordes [photo]. The edge of civilisation is less than a quarter of an hour away.
Canning Town: Down the line at Canning Town the North London platform is slightly less intimidating, but just as isolated [photo]. All the action is on the unique double decker platform opposite, with the DLR whirring by on top and the Jubilee line below [photo]. NLL passengers could sit and wait for up to half an hour for a North Woolwich train, while across the tracks there's action a-plenty every couple of minutes [photo]. This unique vantage point will be lost after tomorrow, although you'll still be able to get a not quite as good view from the modern bus station next door. Anybody still on the train travelling eastwards? Not many.
