DfT category C2 Number of platforms 2 | Grid reference TQ473789 Station code ABW Accessible Yes Opened 1849 | |
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Similar Shenfield railway station, Plumstead railway station, Belvedere railway station, Thamesmead, Woolwich Arsenal station | ||
Filton abbey wood railway station development visualisation
Abbey Wood railway station serves the suburb of Abbey Wood in south east London. It is served by Southeastern, and is between Plumstead and Belvedere stations on the North Kent Line. The station will be served by Crossrail from 2018, giving a direct service to Central London and onto Heathrow, Maidenhead and Reading.
Contents
- Filton abbey wood railway station development visualisation
- History
- Future
- Station building
- Services
- Connections
- References
It is the closest railway station to the suburb of Thamesmead (buses run from the station to Thamesmead proper). Alphabetically, it is the second station in the UK, after Abbey Road DLR station.
History
Opened by the South Eastern Railway on 30 July 1849, the operations of which were handed over to the South Eastern and Chatham Railway in 1899, it became part of the Southern Railway during the grouping of 1923. The line then passed on to the Southern Region of British Railways on nationalisation in 1948. When BR was divided into sectors in the 1980s the station was served by Network SouthEast until the privatisation of British Railways.
During the 1860s William Morris famously used a decorated wagon to commute between this station and his new home at Red House, Bexleyheath, occasionally with his eccentric and artistic house guests.
The ticket office at Abbey Wood (NLC5131) was APTIS-equipped by November 1986, making it one of the very first stations with the ticketing system which was eventually found across the UK at all staffed British Rail stations by the end of the 1980s.
The station has been rebuilt twice over the past 50 years to cater for the changing nature of the area. The station was to be served by the proposed Greenwich Waterfront Transit, however the project was cancelled by Mayor of London Boris Johnson due to lack of funds.
Future
Abbey Wood is being rebuilt in preparation for Crossrail, due to commence operation in 2018. Abbey Wood is the terminus of one of two eastern branches of Crossrail and will offer interchange between terminating Crossrail services (at 12 trains per hour on new line) and existing Southeastern services. This is instead of continuing services to Ebbsfleet International along existing tracks as those lines are congested and may delay Crossrail services.
Crossrail will provide a link north west to ExCeL London and Canary Wharf, then onwards to the city centre, Heathrow Airport and Maidenhead. There are proposals to extend Crossrail further east to Gravesend; the route is safeguarded but it is not intended to be implemented as part of the current phase. A proposed extension of the London Overground to Thamesmead and Abbey Wood was proposed in August 2015.On 8 December 2015 it was proposed that a DLR Extension across the Gallions Reach Crossing could link with Thamesmead, Abbey Wood and Woolwich.
Station building
When the Southeastern Main Line was opened in 1847 the first station building opened. It was a typical 1800s brick station with metal platform shelters. In 1987 a new station was constructed which, in 2014, was replaced by Network Rail with an interim station whilst the new Crossrail station is constructed. The Crossrail station has been designed by architects Fereday Pollard and will include step free interchange between platforms and bus connections with the Harrow Manorway, a dual carriageway which runs above the station.
Services
The typical off-peak service from the station is:
Westbound;
Eastbound;
Connections
London Buses routes 180, 229, 244, 469, B11 and 602 and night route N1 serve the station.