A Guided Tour of the Stations and Architecture of the extended Jubilee Line
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| The escalators at the Eastern end of Canary Wharf station, slowing the glass canopy roof designed to channel light down into the station.. David Goddard |
Ten members made the trip to London on a very sunny August day for Windsor & Maidenhead branch’s second outdoor visit this year when we were treated to a Guided Tour of the Stations and Architecture of the extended Jubilee Line. The tour, led by two volunteer guides from the London Transport Museum, set out to show off the many features (architectural and otherwise) of the stations along the ten mile extension (JLE) which opened in 1999.
The tour began in the shadow of Canary Wharf tower in the heart of London Docklands, where the group was introduced to Colin and Gillian May, our guides for the afternoon. After a short introduction covering the history and redevelopment of Docklands and the Jubilee Line, we were shown around Canary Wharf station, designed by Sir Norman Foster. The tour began at ground level, where we first walked through the landscaped park above the station. The only visible parts of the station are three glass canopies that cover its entrances and are designed to channel daylight into the station below. Members admired the airy and spacious feel in both the ticket hall and platform concourse below. At 300 metres, the station is as long as Canary Wharf tower is tall.
The group then boarded a train for the short journey to North Greenwich. This is one of the larger stations on the line, having been designed to cope with the large number of visitors expected at the Millennium Dome. The station still sees a high volume of passengers when there are events on at the O2, however, for much of the time is one of the quieter stations on the line. The station building provides a joint Underground and bus station facility, and has three platforms, partly to facilitate the termination of short workings, and also with a future extension in mind. The blue-tiled and glazed interior, with raked concrete columns, was designed by Will Alsop, who was also responsible for the new Peckham library, and the new DLR platforms at Stratford, which we would see later.
A return to platform level saw us board a train to our next station, Canning Town, where the extended route comes to the surface. This is a major East End interchange, serving the Jubilee line and the Beckton & Woolwich branches of the DLR. To the east is a further island platform that was served by the North London Line until 2006 and is being rebuilt to serve the new DLR line to Stratford International. The adjacent bus station provides further connections. The station is situated in a very tight space between Bow Creek, Silvertown Way, the A13 Flyover and the River Thames. On the station is a stone monument commemorating the Thames Iron Works, which stood on this site.
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| Members take a break for a group photograph outside Stratford station with LT volunteer guides Colin and Gillian May. Jim Tucker |
We completed our tour of the JLE by travelling onward through West Ham (another interchange, this time with c2c to Southend and LT’s District line), past the line’s depot at Stratford Market, to the imposing three platform terminus which forms part of the busy interchange at Stratford. This is now referred to as Stratford Regional in light of the impending opening of the International station. The Jubilee Line platforms are situated in the Low Level part of the station, which underwent major rebuilding for the JLE, including the new steel and glass building designed by Wilkinson Eyre that encloses much of the station and ticket hall, which is shared with National Rail. Until the North Woolwich line closed, Stratford was unique in being served by trains using four different electrical supply systems.
After a group photograph outside the station, the group departed on an original part of the DLR, from one of the two new platforms that opened in 2007. We travelled to Heron Quays, from where we returned to our meeting point. We are most grateful to Colin and Gillian for sharing their time and knowledge in providing us with a very informative tour.
04/09/09