Poplar DLR station

Poplar is a station on the Docklands Light Railway in Travelcard Zone 2. It is served by three of the six regular routes on the DLR (Stratford-Lewisham, Bank-Woolwich Arsenal and Tower Gateway-Beckton) making it one of the busiest stations on the network in terms of services.

History
Long before the opening of the DLR in 1987, there had been three stations with the name Poplar. However, none was on the site of the current station.
 * Poplar railway station was on the London and Blackwall Railway between 8 July 1840 to 4 May 1926. This is near the site of Blackwall DLR station.
 * Poplar (East India Dock Road) railway station on the North London Railway was in use from 1866 until 1944. This is now the site of All Saints DLR station.
 * A third station named Poplar was constructed in 1851 but never opened. This was sited due south of the North London Railway station (now All Saints DLR), and due east of the present DLR depot.

Poplar DLR station was opened on 21 August 1987, originally with just two platforms, being served only by the Stratford-Island Gardens branch of the DLR. As the DLR was expanded eastwards, the station was extensively remodelled, given two extra platforms and expanded to take two-car operation. On 28 March 1994 Poplar became the western terminus of the new Beckton branch, which opened the same day; on 31 July 1995 the line was extended west, joining Poplar with Westferry via a flying junction and enabling Beckton services to run to Tower Gateway. Bank to King George V (later Woolwich Arsenal) services through the station commenced on 2 December 2005.

Connections
Poplar serves a junction in four directions:
 * Eastbound towards Beckton and Woolwich Arsenal (next station Blackwall)
 * Northbound towards Stratford (next station All Saints)
 * Southbound towards the Isle of Dogs and Lewisham (next station West India Quay)
 * Westbound towards Bank and Tower Gateway (next station Westferry).

The central depot for the DLR is situated next to Poplar station and is accessed through a pair of tracks just east of Poplar. These feature the tightest curves in operation on the railway.

Crossrail
From 2017, when Crossrail opens, Poplar DLR station will be directly adjacent to the new Canary Wharf railway station. This will enable good transfers and connections.