East Ham tube station

East Ham (Template:IPAc-en) is a London Underground station, located on High Street North in the East Ham neighbourhood of the London Borough of Newham in east London, England. It is on the District and Hammersmith & City lines, between Upton Park and Barking stations. It is in London fare zone 3 and 4.

The station was originally opened on 31 March 1858 by the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway on a new more direct route from Fenchurch Street to Barking. It became an interchange station in 1894 when it was connected to the Tottenham and Forest Gate Railway. The large Edwardian station building was constructed to accommodate the electric District Railway services on an additional set of tracks opened in 1905. Metropolitan line service commenced in 1936. British Railways service to Kentish Town was withdrawn in 1958 and the Fenchurch Street–Southend service was withdrawn in 1962, leaving abandoned platforms.

History

The London, Tilbury and Southend Railway (LTSR) direct line between Bow and Barking was constructed east–west through the middle of the parish of East Ham with service starting on 31 March 1858.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Prior to the building of the line, trains took a longer route via Stratford and Forest Gate to the north.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The new line initially also had stations at Bromley and Plaistow, with Upton Park added as the next station to the west of East Ham on 1 September 1877. A bay platform was added to the north of the station on 1 July 1894 that connected to the Tottenham and Forest Gate Railway.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> This was used to provide a frequent local service to St Pancras or Moorgate via a circuitous route from 8 July 1894.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> East Ham was the interchange station for connections from this line to Tilbury and Southend.Template:Efn

The Whitechapel and Bow Railway opened on 2 June 1902 and allowed through services of the District Railway to operate to Upminster. Service began at East Ham on 2 June 1902.<ref name="Rose">Template:Cite book</ref> The District Railway was electrified over a second pair of tracks, and the service was cut back from Upminster to East Ham with the station then serving as the eastern terminus from 30 September 1905. The station, which had been described as very inadequate, was rebuilt to coincide with electrification.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Passengers travelling further east transferred to steam trains, until 1 April 1908 when electrification was extended to Barking.Template:Efn East Ham was a calling point for peak time "non-stop" trains that were introduced in December 1907.<ref name="Improvements">Template:Cite journal</ref> Service frequency was limited east of Whitechapel by the signalling system. Taking advantage of longer platforms on the LTSR section through East Ham, longer trains were run at peak times that split at Whitechapel into non-stop and stopping sections.<ref name="Improvements"/>

The London, Tilbury and Southend Railway and Tottenham and Forest Gate Railway became part of the Midland Railway in 1912. The Midland Railway was amalgamated into the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) on 1 January 1923.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> The District Railway was incorporated into London Transport in 1933, and became known as the District line.<ref name="Horne">Template:Cite book</ref>

The eastern section of the District line was very overcrowded by the mid 1930s. In order to relieve this, the Metropolitan line service was extended to Barking.Template:Efn East Ham was served by a single daily Metropolitan line train from Hammersmith from 30 March 1936. This was expanded from 4 May 1936 with an eight trains per hour service between Barking and Hammersmith at peak times.<ref name="Horne">Template:Cite book</ref> This was increased to ten trains per hour at East Ham from 8 May 1938.Template:Efn The Hammersmith service was swapped for longer Uxbridge trains from 17 July 1939, at eight trains per hour at peak times. This service was suspended on 6 October 1941 with Hammersmith trains again running to Barking.<ref name="Horne"/>

After nationalisation of the railways in 1948 management of the station passed to British Railways.<ref name="Horne"/> Service to Kentish Town and St Pancras was withdrawn from 15 September 1958 and the northern bay platform was taken out of use.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The remaining Fenchurch Street–Southend services were withdrawn on 14 June 1962 with the introduction of full overhead line electric service.<ref name="Horne"/> On 1 January 1969 ownership transferred to the London Underground.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> On 30 July 1990, the Hammersmith–Barking service of the Metropolitan line gained a separate identity as the Hammersmith & City line.<ref name="Rose"/> From 13 December 2009 off-peak service was extended from Whitechapel to Barking with an all-day daily service at East Ham.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Accidents and incidents

• On 12 November 1959, a passenger train overran signals and was in a rear-end collision with another standing at the station. Thirteen people were injured.<ref name=Earnshaw8>Template:Cite book</ref>
• On 14 February 1990, an empty stock train formed of a Class 305 and a Class 308 electric multiple unit was derailed.<ref name=NSES90>Template:Cite web</ref>

Design

The station consists of two operational platforms on an east–west alignment. Platform 2, the northernmost, is for eastbound service. Platform 1 is for westbound service.<ref name="Carto">Template:Cite web</ref> Much of the Edwardian station architecture has been retained and some restoration work was carried out during 2005. The station is Grade II listed.<ref name="Listing"/>

The disused platforms of the Fenchurch Street to Southend services are to the south of the operational platforms and there is a disused bay platform to the north of the station.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Location

The station is named after the suburb of East Ham in which it is located, on High Street North. London Buses routes 101, 147, 238, 300, 304, 325, 376 and 474 serve the station.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Services

East Ham station is on the District and Hammersmith & City lines in London fare zones 3 and 4. It is between Upton Park to the west and Barking to the east. The typical off-peak service from the station is 12 District line trains per hour to Upminster with a further three trains to Barking. There are 15 trains westbound to Earl's Court, of which six continue to Ealing Broadway, six continue to Richmond and three to Wimbledon.<ref name="Working 155">Template:Cite web</ref> At peak periods the number of trains per hour increases.<ref name="Working 155"/> There are six Hammersmith & City line trains an hour to Barking and six to Hammersmith at all times.<ref name="Working 39">Template:Cite web</ref>

Services towards central London operate from approximately 05:00 to 00:00 and services to Upminster operate from approximately 06:00 to 01:15.<ref name="first and last">Template:Cite web</ref> The journey time to Upminster is approximately 20 minutes, to Barking 3 minutes and to Tower Hill in central London 29 minutes.<ref name="Working 155"/> With 10.8 million entries and exits in 2023, it ranked 57th busiest London Underground station.<ref name="TfL count">Template:Citation LU usage 2023</ref>

References

Sources

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External links

• London Transport Museum Photographic Archive
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