Woolwich Arsenal station

This article is about the National Rail and DLR station. For the Elizabeth line station, seeWoolwich railway station.

Woolwich Arsenal
Woolwich Arsenal Location of Woolwich Arsenal in Greater London
Location	Woolwich
Local authority	Royal Borough of Greenwich
Managed by	Southeastern
Station code(s)	WWA
DfT category	C2
Number of platforms	4 (2 underground platforms served by DLR)
Accessible	Yes
Fare zone	4
OSI	Woolwich
DLR annual boardings and alightings
2018	14.588 million
2019	14.590 million
2020	8.083 million
2021	8.492 million
2022	7.730 million
National Rail annual entry and exit
2018–19	4.371 million
2019–20	4.387 million
2020–21	1.530 million
2021–22	2.805 million
2022–23	2.475 million
Key dates
1 November 1849	Opened
12 January 2009	DLR opened
Other information
External links	Departures Layout Facilities Buses
Coordinates	51.490°N 0.069°E/51.490; 0.069
London transport portal

Woolwich Arsenal stationis aninterchange stationin the heart ofWoolwichin theRoyal Borough of GreenwichforDocklands Light Railway(DLR) andNational Railservices.

It has two parts; its raised, south-western part of the station is on the semi-slow, commuter service, corollary of theNorth Kent Lineand also in itsDartford Loopservices section between London andDartford,run bySoutheastern.Regular services beyond Dartford are to theMedway Towns,which start/finish in the opposite direction atLutonvia theCity of London,West HampsteadandSt Albans.Its other part is the terminus of its own branch of the DLR, run byTransport for London.

The older part of the station, built in amoderniststyle, is located on a corner ofGeneral GordonSquare, a greentown square.The newer part has entrances to Woolwich's subterranean end of the DLR, and faces the top ofPowis Street,a long, semi-pedestrianised retail avenue. It is named after the area'sWoolwich or Royal Arsenal,to distinguish the Arsenal site from the formerRoyal Dockyard,which before the 19th century was complemented with wharves and yards for large naval ships.In zoning it is the furthest DLR station – inTravelcard Zone 4.

On thenationalnetwork, it is 9miles32chains(15.1 km)downfromLondon Charing Cross.

History

Memorial atPostman's Parkto Inspector Frederick Croft, arailway police officerwho lost his life saving a woman's life at the station in 1878.

The station opened in 1849, serving theNorth Kent Linefrom London to Gillingham. The station building was rebuilt in 1906 in aLondon brickform typical of southeast London. It was again rebuilt in 1992–93 to a modern design in steel and glass by the Architecture and Design Group of British Rail, under the leadership ofNick Derbyshire.It has a, clean, naturally-lit ellipsoid theme, contrasting with the earlier forms.

In 1973 a government report on the redevelopment of London's Docklands projected a greater form of the never-built "Fleet line"fromCharing CrossviaFenchurch Streetto Woolwich Arsenal and on towardsThamesmead,with a preceding stop atSilvertown.The Fleet line plans were shelved in favour of a route that became the western part of the Jubilee line. Council (local government)-approved however in 1980, finances meant that the Fleet line was never built.By the start of the 1990s plans emerged in both levels of government and business forums for the Jubilee Line Extension to serve the south bank of the Thames twice on its way to Stratford. In the Royal Borough of Greenwich the line takes in a small area, North Greenwich (a peninsula).

Woolwich Arsenal was expanded in 2009, whenTransport for Londoncompleted the construction of an extension of what was then termed theLondon City Airportbranch of theDocklands Light RailwayfromKing George Vto Woolwich Arsenal. The official opening took place on 12 January that year.

In 2014, a petition was started and presented to the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, to rezone Woolwich Arsenal station from Zone 4 to Zone 3. However he ruled this out, stating it would cause losses of over a million pounds a year.

Accidents and incidents

• On 18 November 1948, a train – an electric multiple unit – crashed into the rear of another train, killing two people. It had departed fromWoolwich Dockyardagainst signals.

Design

DLR train awaiting departure toBank

The National Rail part of the station consists of two above-ground platforms. The up platform for London has a refreshment facility. The down platform serves trains going east, towards north Kent, viaPlumstead,Abbey WoodandSlade Green.

The Docklands Light Railway part of the station is underground, and consists of two platforms in anisland platformconfiguration. As Woolwich Arsenal is a terminus, both platforms serve an up line toBankorStratford InternationalviaLondon City AirportandCanning Town.Trains depart in the eastbound direction due to the curve under theRiver Thames.

Connections

A large number ofLondon Busesroutes serve the station.

Crossrail station at the former Royal Arsenal base

Main article:Woolwich railway station

In May 2022 anElizabeth linestation opened in north-east Woolwich, after a campaign to complement housing developments built on former public-sector land. Among the successful lobbyists for this extra station were those who developed the land, including Berkeley Homes.The stationis about 200 metres (660 ft) north of Woolwich Arsenal station, on the north side of theA206 road.

Services

National Rail

National Railservices at Woolwich Arsenal are operated bySoutheasternandThameslinkusingClass 376,465,466,700and707EMUs.

The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is:

• 4 tph toLondon Cannon Street(2 of these run viaGreenwichand 2 run viaLewisham)
• 2 tph toLutonvia Greenwich
• 2 tph toBarnehurst,returning to London Cannon Street viaBexleyheathand Lewisham
• 2 tph toDartford
• 2 tph toRainhamviaChatham

Additional services, including trains to and from London Cannon Street viaSidcupcall at the station during the peak hours.

DLR

The typical off-peak DLR service in trains per hour from Woolwich Arsenal is:

• 6 tph toStratford International
• 6 tph toBank

Additional services during the peak hours, increasing the service to up to 16 tph to and from the station, with up to 8 tph to Bank and Stratford International.

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Charlton		Thameslink North Kent Line		Plumstead
Woolwich Dockyard		Southeastern North Kent Line
DLR
King George V towardsBankorStratford International		Docklands Light Railway		Terminus
	Abandoned Plans
Preceding station		London Underground		Following station
Silvertown towardsStanmore		Jubilee line Phase 3 (1980) Never constructed		Terminus

External links

• Train timesandstation informationfor Woolwich Arsenal station fromNational Rail