West Ham station

West Ham station is a London Underground and National Rail station on the District Line, Hammersmith & City Line, Jubilee Line and served by c2c train services. It is in Travelcard Zone 3, and is managed by London Underground. It was designed by the distinguished architects van Heyningen and Haward, and all platforms have step-free access to the street and each other.

West Ham station is not the closest station to West Ham United Football Club's Boleyn Ground. Upton Park tube station, two stops to the east, is much closer. However, East London Rugby Football Club is situated just minutes away from West Ham Station in Holland Road, which is also home to Kings Cross Steelers RFC and Phantoms RFC.

Layout
The station consists of four sets of island platforms. Two are above street level running east-west, serving the District and Hammersmith & City, and c2c lines respectively; two more are at street level, running north-south and serving the Jubilee Line and (opening 2010) DLR (platform formerly, Silverlink Metro).

History
In November 1897 Arnold Hills, the owner of the Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company whose football team (forerunner of West Ham United) played at the Memorial Grounds, secured an agreement with London, Tilbury and Southend Railway (LT&SR) to build a station at Manor Road. The LT&SR board approved this in February 1898 and Mowlem's was given the contract to build a four platform station, allowing for the proposed quadrupling of the line. The station was completed in May 1900 but did not open until February 1, 1901 as West Ham

The northernmost platform was a bay used by the North London Railway trains. District Line service began in 1902, with the Hammersmith & City Line (then the Metropolitan Line) following in 1936. In 1924 the station was renamed West Ham (Manor Road), reverting to its original name in 1969.

The North London Line platforms were opened in 1979 as part of a local regeneration programme. The station was greatly enlarged and entirely modernised as part of the Jubilee Line Extension project in 1999, with the introduction of Jubilee Line (services began on 14th May 1999 ) and re-introduction of London, Tilbury and Southend Railway (though now called c2c) services at the station. North London Line services ceased on 9 December 2006 as part of the closure of the to North Woolwich section of the line.

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.

Future work
A planned extension of the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) from to Stratford International station via West Ham will see the DLR replacing the former North London Line services. The station will also see refurbishment works in the near future to allow it to cope with an increase in passenger numbers for the London 2012 Summer Olympic Games. The station is to be temporarily 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 will involve the construction of temporary stairs and walkway from the eastern end of the District line platforms, over the eastbound track and running back parallel to the platform ending at neighbouring Manor Road. The walkway will be temporary for the duration of the Games, however the foundations will be left for any future expansion of the station.

Crossrail work rebuilding means Hammersmith and City trains will not be able to reverse there. Construction of double ended centre siding East of West Ham began in June 2010.

The London Development Agency owns land to the west of the station and would like West Ham United to relocate there. The then chairman of West Ham United would hope to have a stadium completed by 2011, a year before the Olympics. Under new ownership West Ham are now looking to occupy the Olympic stadium itself.

The old Berk Spencer chemical factory site North of the railway and West of Manor Road has been subject of speculation about being developed into a mosque. Depending on the size of the mosque, if it is ever built, might require improvements to the station to give direct access to the site. For details, see Abbey Mills Mosque.

Services
, the typical off-peak service is:


 * District line
 * 6 tph to
 * 6 tph to
 * 12 tph to


 * Hammersmith and City line
 * 6 tph to
 * 3 tph to
 * 3 tph to


 * Jubilee line
 * 16 tph to
 * 16 tph towards


 * c2c
 * 8 tph to Fenchurch Street
 * 4 tph to Shoeburyness
 * 2 tph to Grays via Rainham
 * 2 tph to Southend Central via Ockendon

Transport links
London Bus route 276.