Stratford International station is a main line railway and Docklands Light Railway station located in
StratfordStratford is a place in the London Borough of Newham, England. It is located east northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the major centres identified in the London Plan. It was historically an agrarian settlement in the ancient parish of West Ham, which transformed into an industrial suburb...
in the
London Borough of NewhamThe London Borough of Newham is a London borough formed from the towns of West Ham and East Ham, within East London.It is situated east of the City of London, and is north of the River Thames. According to 2006 estimates, Newham has one of the highest ethnic minority populations of all the...
in northeast
LondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, United Kingdom. The station opened on 30 November 2009 for
SoutheasternLondon & South Eastern Railway Limited, trading as Southeastern is a train operating company in south-east England. On 1 April 2006 it became the franchisee for the new Integrated Kent Franchise , replacing the publicly owned South Eastern Trains on the former South East Franchise...
services on High Speed 1, although the station building was completed in April 2006.
It is located adjacent to the construction site of the
London Olympic ParkThe Olympic Park in London is a new sporting complex currently under construction, adjacent to the Stratford City development in Stratford, Bow, Leyton & Homerton in East London for the 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics....
and the recently opened Westfield Stratford City shopping centre. On 31 August 2011 an extension of the
Docklands Light RailwayThe Docklands Light Railway is an automated light metro or light rail system opened on 31 August 1987 to serve the redeveloped Docklands area of London...
(DLR) was opened to connect the station directly to the wider London public transport network. The DLR station is physically separate, across the road from the High Speed 1 station.
Oyster CardThe Oyster card is a form of electronic ticketing used on public transport services within the Greater London area of the United Kingdom. It is promoted by Transport for London and is valid on a number of different travel systems across London including London Underground, buses, the Docklands...
s are valid for travel at the DLR station, but not at the High Speed 1 station.
Background
The station is on the High Speed 1 railway between and . Much of the surrounding land is currently a construction site as it lies just inside the eastern boundary of the
London Olympic ParkThe Olympic Park in London is a new sporting complex currently under construction, adjacent to the Stratford City development in Stratford, Bow, Leyton & Homerton in East London for the 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics....
, which is being built for the
2012 Summer OlympicsThe 2012 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the "London 2012 Olympic Games", are scheduled to take place in London, England, United Kingdom from 27 July to 12 August 2012...
.
It is situated about 400 yards (365.8 m) from nearby Regional, which is a major
Transport for LondonTransport for London is the local government body responsible for most aspects of the transport system in Greater London in England. Its role is to implement the transport strategy and to manage transport services across London...
and commuter rail hub. The station has four platforms (two outer and two on the central island), and is bisected by a single-track inclined viaduct rising to the east along the length of the island platforms.
This is used by empty Eurostar trains to leave the station trench to reach the depot at
Temple MillsTemple Mills is a northerly part of Stratford, south of Leyton, located within the London borough of Newham in east LondonToday, Temple Mills is surrounded at present by former railway tracks and works belonging to the Great Eastern Railway...
. Fast tracks run between each pair of platforms. The tracks descend into tunnel at both ends of the station (the station platforms are at a higher level than the tunnels) and the outer (international) platforms have a noticeable dip at the east end. There is a waiting room on the island platforms, but not on the outer platforms.
The station was not authorised by the
Channel Tunnel Rail Link Act 1996The Channel Tunnel Rail Link Act 1996 is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom. This act provides for construction, maintenance and operation of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link between St Pancras railway station and the entrance to the Channel Tunnel at Folkestone.-External links:* - Hansard...
and an order under the
Transport and Works Act 1992The Transport and Works Act 1992 was established by the Parliament of the United Kingdom to provide a system by which the construction of rail transport, tramway, inland waterway and harbour infrastructure could proceed in the UK by order of the Minister of State for Transport rather than, as...
had to be made to allow for its construction.
Domestic high-speed services
The full service started on 13 December 2009 using
Class 395British Rail Class 395 is a dual-voltage electric multiple unit used by train operating company Southeastern for its services along High Speed 1 and onwards to the Kent coast. The trains were built in Japan by Hitachi and shipped to the United Kingdom to operate new high speed domestic services...
multiple units. The typical off-peak service is:
- 4tph (trains per hour) to St Pancras International (taking 7 minutes)
- 2tph to
- 1tph to via Ashford International and
- 1tph to via Ashford International
The peak hour service is 19 trains arriving at St Pancras between 07:00 and 09:59.
During the 2012 Olympic Games, a service of eight trains an hour is planned between St Pancras and Ebbsfleet, calling at Stratford, replacing the highspeed service. Two of these would be extended to Ashford and one to Faversham. Between 11pm and 1am the service between St Pancras and Ebbsfleet would be increased to twelve per hour.
Docklands Light Railway
The
Docklands Light RailwayThe Docklands Light Railway is an automated light metro or light rail system opened on 31 August 1987 to serve the redeveloped Docklands area of London...
extension to Stratford International consists of a short new line from Stratford International to Stratford Regional station, then continues along the former
North London LineThe North London Line is a railway line which passes through the inner suburbs of north London, England. Its route is a rough semicircle from the south west to the north east, avoiding central London. The line is owned and maintained by Network Rail...
route between and , stopping at
Stratford High StreetStratford High Street DLR station is a Docklands Light Railway station in the Stratford neighbourhood of the London Borough of Newham, in east London, England. It is located on the Stratford International extension of the Docklands Light Railway, which opened on 31 August 2011...
(on the site of the original Stratford Market railway station),
Abbey RoadAbbey Road DLR station is a Docklands Light Railway station in the West Ham neighbourhood of the London Borough of Newham, in east London, England...
, and
Star LaneStar Lane DLR station is a Docklands Light Railway station in Newham, East London. On the Stratford International extension of the Docklands Light Railway between Stratford and Canning Town, it opened on 31 August 2011.-History:...
before joining the existing DLR branches from Canning Town to Woolwich Arsenal (during weekday peak hours only) and
BecktonBeckton DLR station is the eastern terminus of the Beckton branch of the Docklands Light Railway in the Docklands area of east London. It is located in Travelcard Zone 3. The DLR branch from Poplar was opened on 28 March 1994...
. Orginally planned to open in July 2010 this was delayed to 31 August 2011.
Bus services
London Buses route 97, London Buses route 241, London Buses route 339 and London Buses route D8 bus routes serve
Stratford CityWestfield Stratford City is a shopping centre in Stratford, London, owned by the Westfield Group. The centre opened on 13 September 2011. With a total retail floor area of , it is one of the largest urban shopping centres in Europe. It is the 3rd largest shopping centre in the United Kingdom by...
Bus Station, adjacent to the Westfield Stratford City shopping centre. It is planned that London buses route W14 join them after the 2012 games as part of a wide provision of bus services through the Olympic Park.
International services
The original intended purpose of Stratford International station was to act as the London stop for regional
EurostarEurostar is a high-speed railway service connecting London with Paris and Brussels. All its trains traverse the Channel Tunnel between England and France, owned and operated separately by Eurotunnel....
trains bypassing St Pancras and continuing to other destinations in Britain. However at the station's opening Eurostar did not wish to stop its trains at the station due to low demand and increased journey time, and critics hailed the station as a
white elephantA white elephant is an idiom for a valuable but burdensome possession of which its owner cannot dispose and whose cost is out of proportion to its usefulness or worth...
. Rob Holden, chief executive of LCR and deputy chairman of Eurostar, stated that “Stopping a high-speed train seven minutes out of St Pancras is less than ideal.” leaving only the domestic Southeastern trains serving the station.
By the time Southeastern was serving the station, the Transport Secretary Lord Adonis was urged by Sir Robin Wales, Mayor of
Newham-Places:* London Borough of Newham, England* Newham, Lincolnshire, England* Newham, Northumberland, England* Newham, Victoria, Australia-People:* Billy Newham , English cricketer* Edgar Newham, Australian rugby league footballer...
, and Peter Miller, Westfield's CEO, to order Eurostar to stop at the station. John Burton, development director of Westfield's Stratford City mall, said domestic services were a “poor substitute” for Eurostar: “International commuters are essential in order to realise the vision of a major metropolitan centre for east London. Direct international services will be a key part of the legacy of the Olympics.”
Miller and local politicians including former Mayor
Ken LivingstoneKenneth Robert "Ken" Livingstone is an English politician who is currently a member of the centrist to centre-left Labour Party...
warned that international services would be vital for the success of the Stratford City scheme and the regeneration of East London.
London AssemblyThe London Assembly is an elected body, part of the Greater London Authority, that scrutinises the activities of the Mayor of London and has the power, with a two-thirds majority, to amend the mayor's annual budget. The assembly was established in 2000 and is headquartered at City Hall on the south...
member
Andrew BoffAndrew Boff is a British politician and a Conservative member of the London Assembly, elected in the 2008 election. He is a Londonwide member, representing all thirty-two boroughs and the City of London....
has suggested that rail operators considering running international trains should be forced to stop at Stratford International as part of their High Speed 1 line access.
Eurostar will review stopping at this station after the
2012 London OlympicsThe 2012 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the "London 2012 Olympic Games", are scheduled to take place in London, England, United Kingdom from 27 July to 12 August 2012...
but cannot stop during the games due to the high frequency of the Javelin service. There are a number of other potential operators that may use the station for International services including
Deutsche BahnDeutsche Bahn AG is the German national railway company, a private joint stock company . Headquartered in Berlin, it came into existence in 1994 as the successor to the former state railways of Germany, the Deutsche Bundesbahn of West Germany and the Deutsche Reichsbahn of East Germany...
's proposed London-Frankfurt service and the "Transmanche Metro" project to Calais via local stations.
Access and interchange
Access to the station was, at design stage, to be via a new link road to Waterden Road, which linked in turn to the A12 at Lea Interchange and south to Carpenters Road. This link road was constructed and a new signal junction installed on Waterden Road but never opened. However, these roads were stopped up in mid-2007 to enable the construction of the Olympic Park.
When opened it was located adjacent to the construction sites of both the London Olympic Park and Westfield Stratford City shopping centre which prevented pedestrian access; during local redevelopment work a temporary bus service linked Stratford International to nearby
Stratford RegionalStratford station is a large multilevel railway station in Stratford, east London. The station is served by the National Rail services National Express East Anglia, London Overground and c2c, by London Underground's Central and Jubilee lines, and by the Docklands Light Railway . Stratford is in...
. The DLR station opened on 31 August 2011, and Westfield Stratford City on 13 September 2011. The bus service ran until 20 September.