Beckton is the eastern terminus of the Beckton branch of the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) in the Docklands area of east London. It is in Travelcard Zone 3.

Beckton Docklands Light Railway
The station in 2013
Beckton is located in Greater London
Beckton
Beckton
Location of Beckton in Greater London
LocationBeckton
Local authorityLondon Borough of Newham
Managed byDocklands Light Railway
Number of platforms2
AccessibleYes[1]
Fare zone3
DLR annual boardings and alightings
2019Decrease 2.364 million[2]
2020Decrease 1.867 million[3]
2021Decrease 1.373 million[4]
2022Increase 2.070 million[5]
2023Increase 2.180 million[6]
Key dates
28 March 1994Opened
Other information
Coordinates51°30′51″N 0°03′42″E / 51.5142°N 0.0616°E / 51.5142; 0.0616
London transport portal

History

edit

When the London Docks and Beckton Gasworks were active, they were served by a railway system. A separate station known as Beckton existed on this earlier network, several hundred yards east of Beckton DLR station, until its closure in December 1940.

In 1973, a government report on the redevelopment of London's Docklands proposed an extension of the unbuilt Fleet line from Charing Cross via Fenchurch Street to Beckton. The proposal was developed during the 1970s as the Fleet line developed into the Jubilee line. The route was approved in 1980 with the main route running via Custom House and Silvertown to Woolwich Arsenal. Beckton would have been the terminus of a branch line operated as a shuttle service from Custom House. Financial constraints meant that the route was not proceeded with.[7] By the start of the 1990s new plans had been developed to extend the Jubilee line on a route south of the River Thames towards Stratford.

The DLR branch from Poplar was opened on 28 March 1994. The station was originally in Travelcard Zone 4 and was moved to Zone 2/3 in January 2000.

Location

edit

The next station is Gallions Reach, but between the two stations the line curves through 180 degrees, such that westbound trains for Central London depart Beckton heading east. Beckton station is located north and slightly further west of Cyprus, the station after Gallions Reach. During peak hours, trains from Beckton depart for Tower Gateway and Bank. Off-peak, trains alternate between Tower Gateway and Canning Town station.

Beckton DLR depot, the principal depot for the DLR system, is located between Beckton and Gallions Reach stations, but is closer to the latter.

Like all open-air DLR stations, Beckton is unmanned and tickets are bought at the ticket machines. New machines were installed in January 2009 that now allow Oyster card users to top-up their pre-pay balance and see their journey history.[citation needed] During 2007–2008, a new bus station was constructed directly opposite the DLR station. This opened in the first week of November 2008.[8]

Services

edit

The typical off-peak service in trains per hour from Beckton is:[9]

Additional services run to and from the station during the peak hours, increasing the service to up to 16 tph in each direction.

Preceding station     DLR   Following station
Gallions Reach
  Docklands Light Railway   Terminus

Connections

edit

There is a bus station directly in front of the station offering services right across East London.

References

edit
  1. ^ "Step free Tube Guide" (PDF). Transport for London. April 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on 15 May 2021.
  2. ^ "Station Usage Data" (XLSX). Usage Statistics for London Stations, 2019. Transport for London. 23 September 2020. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
  3. ^ "Station Usage Data" (XLSX). Usage Statistics for London Stations, 2020. Transport for London. 16 April 2021. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
  4. ^ "Station Usage Data" (XLSX). Usage Statistics for London Stations, 2021. Transport for London. 12 July 2022. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  5. ^ "Station Usage Data" (XLSX). Usage Statistics for London Stations, 2022. Transport for London. 4 October 2023. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
  6. ^ "Station Usage Data" (XLSX). Usage Statistics for London Stations, 2023. Transport for London. 8 August 2024. Retrieved 16 September 2024.
  7. ^ Horne, Mike (2000). The Jubilee Line. Capital Transport. pp. 50–52. ISBN 1-85414-220-8.
  8. ^ "Brand new bus station for Beckton".
  9. ^ "DLR train timetables". Transport for London. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
edit