West Ham station

Image: © Marathon Taken: 8 May 2013

The London, Tilbury & Southend Railway direct line from Bow to Barking was constructed from west to east through the middle of the Parish of West Ham in 1858. In November 1897 Arnold Hills, the owner of the Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company, secured an agreement with the London, Tilbury & Southend Railway to build a station at Manor Road. The company board approved this in February 1898 and a four platform station was constructed, which allowed for the proposed quadrupling of the line with the completion of the Whitechapel & Bow Railway. The station was completed in May 1900, but did not open until 1st February 1901. The station was initially known as West Ham, but became West Ham (Manor Road) from 11th February 1924 to 1st January 1969. The Whitechapel & 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. The Metropolitan District Railway was incorporated into London Transport in 1933, and became known as the District line. 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. The southern platforms were unused in normal service from 1st January 1916 until 1999 when the platforms were re-established on the line from Fenchurch Street, now operated by c2c. The station was rebuilt and significantly expanded in 1999 in connection with the opening of the Jubilee line. This is the view from the C2C platform looking across the down C2C line and up District line towards a District line train heading to Upminster.

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