Line History:

The oldest part of the London Underground actually predates by 20 years the opening of the world's first Underground railway between Paddington and Farringdon Street in 1863. Sir Marc Brunel's historic twin tunnels under the Thames, opened for pedestrians in 1843, were laid with rail tracks linking Wapping to the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway at New Cross Gate, and reopened as the East London Railway in December 1869. The line was linked at Shoreditch to the Great Eastern Railway into Liverpool Street in 1876, and four years later the southern branch to New Cross was opened. When the line was electrified in 1913, the link into Liverpool Street was closed, and trains have since run from Shoreditch to New Cross and New Cross Gate only. In September 1991, the management of the line was merged with that of the Jubilee Line.

Refurbishment:

The East London Line closed in March 1995 for the refurbishment of Grade II* listed Thames Tunnel between Wapping and Rotherhithe and the construction of a new station at Canada Water which will provide interchange with the new extended Jubilee Line. Major upgrading work was also undertaken, most notably: platform refurbishment at Whitechapel, Shadwell, Wapping, Rotherhithe and Surrey Quays; the installation or renewal of various communications systems such as dot matrix passenger information equipment at platform level, new tunnel telephones, station clocks, new radio systems and a new control centre at New Cross Depot; the replacement of the line's 11kv main traction power cable; complete line resignalling; bridge replacement and repair works; retaining wall strengthening at Surrey Quays and Rotherhithe; brickwork cleaning and repointing at a number of sites along the length of the line; renewal of the track drainage systems; the renewal of large sections of track; and refurbishment of the line's rolling stock. The line reopened between Wh itechapel and New Cross / New Cross Gate in March 1998, with the final section between Whitechapel and Shoreditch reopening in September 1998.

The Future?:

There are proposed extensions to the north and south of the East London line. The northern extension runs from Whitechapel to Dalston and then, subject to agreement with Railt rack, over the existing Railtrack line to Highbury and Islington. The southern extension proposals are examining extending services to a number of destinations such as Croydon via New Cross Gate and Wimbledon via the disused alignment south of Surrey Quay s to the South London line. Both proposals include bringing sections of disused trackbed back into service. A formal application to seek the necessary powers under the Transport and Works Act to build the northern extension was made in December 1993. A public inquiry was held the following autumn, and in January 1997 the Secretary of State for Transport announced his approval for the scheme to go ahead. As part of the northern extension a new station will be built on the former goods yard site at Bishopsgate, 400 metres (0.25 mile) from Shoreditch station which will be closed. The planning powers also include the provision for a replacement for New Cross Depot at Silwood, south of Surrey Quays station. LUL is currently preparing the necessary work to support the southern extensions Transport & Works Act order application. The current programme assumes approval of the order by the end of 2000. It is then proposed to start construction of both the northern and southern extensions during 2001 with the extended line open for passenger services during 2004.

East London Route Map:

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