Wikipedia tells us:
"West Ham station is an interchange
station located on the corner of Manor Road and Memorial Avenue in the West Ham
neighbourhood of the London Borough of Newham in east London, England. The
station is served by London Underground, National Rail and Docklands Light
Railway services. On the London Underground it is a stop on the District,
Hammersmith & City and Jubilee lines; and on the National Rail network it is
served by c2c services. The station was opened on 1 February 1901 by the London,
Tilbury and Southend Railway on the line from Fenchurch Street to Barking that
was opened in 1858. It was known as West Ham (Manor Road) from 11 February 1924
to 1 January 1969. The station was rebuilt and significantly expanded in 1999
with the addition of four platforms, a new booking hall and connecting passages.
The North London Line services were withdrawn in 2006, making way for the
Docklands Light Railway Stratford International branch which opened on 31 August
2011.
East to west alignment:
The
London, Tilbury and Southend Railway direct line from Bow to Barking was
constructed east to west through the middle of the Parish of West Ham in 1858.
Before this, trains took a longer route via Stratford and Forest Gate to the
north. The new line opened with stations initially at Bromley, Plaistow and East
Ham. In November 1897 Arnold Hills, the owner of the Thames Ironworks and
Shipbuilding Company, whose football team Thames Ironworks FC (reformed in 1900
as West Ham United) played at the Memorial Grounds, secured an agreement with
the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway to build a station at Manor Road. The
company board approved this in February 1898 and Mowlem's was given the contract
to build a four platform station, which allowed for the proposed quadrupling of
the line with the completion of the Whitechapel and Bow Railway. The station was
completed in May 1900, but did not open until 1 February 1901. The station was
initially known as West Ham.
The North London Railway had run a
daily service to Plaistow via the Bow-Bromley curve since 18 May 1869 and when
West Ham opened it used the northern platforms. In 1905 they switched to the
southern platforms, with the opening of a new bay platform at Plaistow on the
southern side. The Whitechapel and Bow Railway allowed through services of the
Metropolitan District Railway to operate through West Ham to Upminster from
1902. The Metropolitan District converted to electric trains in 1905 and
services were cut back to East Ham. The London, Tilbury and Southend Railway
trains from Fenchurch Street used the southern platforms when the Metropolitan
District services began but stopping was reduced to a few a week in 1908 and to
nil in 1913. Ownership of the station passed to the Midland Railway in 1912 and
the London, Midland and Scottish Railway in 1923. The station was renamed West
Ham (Manor Road) in 1924. When the North London Railway service to Plaistow
ceased on 1 January 1916 the southern platforms were unused in normal
service.
The Metropolitan District Railway
was incorporated into London Transport in 1933, and became known as the District
line. Hammersmith & City line services started, as part of the Metropolitan
line, in 1936. The southern platforms were removed after war damage in 1940
which had completely closed the station from 7 September 1940 until 11 August
1941. After nationalisation of the railways in 1948 management of the station
passed to British Railways. In 1969 ownership was transferred to the London
Underground and the station was renamed back to West Ham. On 15 March 1976 nine
people were injured here by an explosion caused on a train by a member of the
Provisional IRA. Julius Stephen, the driver of the train, was shot dead at the
scene when he attempted to pursue the fleeing bomber. In 1999 platforms were
re-established on the line from Fenchurch Street, now operated by
c2c.
North to south alignment:
The
Eastern Counties and Thames Junction Railway was constructed north to south
through West Ham, linking Stratford with Canning Town in 1846. Platforms were
constructed on the line at West Ham in 1979 when the North London Line service,
at the time known as the Crosstown Linkline, began between Camden Road and North
Woolwich. In 1999 two further platforms were opened on the same alignment as
part of the Jubilee line extension. At the same time the station buildings,
ticket office and connecting passages were rebuilt, designed by van Heyningen
and Haward Architects. The ticket hall is linked by a bridge to four rail lines
and a main road as well as the Jubilee Line platform and upper level concourse.
Jubilee line services began on 14 May 1999. North London Line services at the
station ceased on 9 December 2006, when the line from Stratford to North
Woolwich was closed, to allow for the line to be converted for Docklands Light
Railway operation. The platforms reopened on 31 August 2011.
Design:
The station consists of
four sets of island platforms, two on an elevated east-west alignment and
another perpendicular pair at street level, giving a total of eight platform
faces. Platforms 1 and 2 are the northern upper pair, where all District and
Hammersmith & City line services call. Platforms 3 and 4 are the eastern
lower pair and are used by Docklands Light Railway trains. Platforms 5 and 6 are
the western lower pair, where all Jubilee line services stop. Platforms 7 and 8
are the southern upper pair and are used by c2c trains. The main station
building and connecting passageways are finished in a mixture of red brick,
concrete and glass. To reach the Docklands Light Railway and Jubilee line
platforms from the rest of the station a mezzanine level is accessed by
escalators, lifts and stairs. There is a double-ended centre siding east of West
Ham to compensate for lost reversing capacity caused by the rebuilding of
Whitechapel station as part of Crossrail work. This was commissioned on 17
January 2011.
The station was temporarily
modified to allow it to cope with an increase in passenger numbers during the
2012 Summer Olympic Games. The station was extended to give direct pedestrian
access to The Greenway foot and cycle path nearby, which connects directly to
the London Olympic Park in Stratford. This involved the construction of
temporary stairs and a walkway from the eastern end of the District line
platforms, over the eastbound track and running back parallel to the platform
ending at Manor Road. Construction began in January 2011, and the footbridge was
removed in mid-October 2012. The foundations of the temporary footbridge have
been left for possible use in future expansion of the station.
Location:
The station is named
after the former parish and borough of West Ham within which it was located to
the west of the centre. The neighbourhood of West Ham is located some distance
to the north-east. The station is located at the corner of Durban Road and Manor
Road, in the London Borough of Newham. The area around the station is
residential to the southeast and predominantly commercial or former industrial
land to the north and west. The station site is served by London Bus route 276.
Since West Ham United Football Club moved to the Boleyn Ground in 1904, the
station is no longer located near their home ground. East London Rugby Football
Club is situated nearby on Holland Road, which is also home to Kings Cross
Steelers RFC and Phantoms RFC.
Services:
The station is in
London fare zone 3. The typical off-peak service from the station is twelve
District line trains per hour to Upminster and twelve to Earl's Court, of which
six continue to Wimbledon and six continue to Richmond. On the Hammersmith &
City line there are six trains an hour to Hammersmith and six to Plaistow, of
which three continue to Barking. On the Jubilee line there are sixteen trains an
hour to Stratford and sixteen towards Stanmore. On the DLR there are six trains
an hour to Stratford International, and six to Beckton. In the peak hours,
Woolwich Arsenal is served rather than Beckton.[16] There are eight c2c services
an hour to Fenchurch Street, four to Shoeburyness, two to Grays via Rainham and
two to Southend Central via Ockendon."