Bromley-by-Bow tube station

Bromley-by-Bow is a London Underground station located on the Blackwall Tunnel Northern Approach Road in the Bromley-by-Bow area of London, United Kingdom. The station is below the Blackwall Tunnel Northern Approach Road and lies between Bow Road and West Ham stations on the District and Hammersmith & City lines, and is in both Travelcard Zones 2 and 3.[5]

Bromley-by-Bow
Bromley-by-Bow Location of Bromley-by-Bow in Greater London
Location	Bromley-by-Bow
Local authority	London Borough of Tower Hamlets
Managed by	London Underground
Owner	Transport for London
Number of platforms	4 (2 in use)
Accessible	Yes[1]
Fare zone	2 and 3
London Underground annual entry and exit
2015	3.69 million[2]
2016	3.79 million[2]
2017	3.75 million[2]
2018	3.76 million[3]
2019	4.23 million[4]
Railway companies
Original company	London, Tilbury and Southend Railway
Pre-grouping	Midland Railway
Post-grouping	London, Midland and Scottish Railway
Key dates
31 March 1858	Opened as Bromley
1894	Resited
1902	District Railway services commence (steam)
1905	Station rebuilt with additional platforms/tracks. District Railway electric services commence.
1962	London–Southend stops withdrawn
1967	Renamed Bromley-by-Bow
1969	Ownership transferred to London Transport
Other information
External links	TfL station info page
WGS84	51.524°N 0.0113°W
London transport portal

The main station building is of unusual architecture for this part of the London Underground; it was constructed by British Rail in 1972 following a fire.[6]

History

Bromley station in 1961, with West Ham Power Station visible in the background

It was opened as a railway station called Bromley by the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway (LTSR) in 1858, on its new line to Barking from the terminus at Fenchurch Street, a more direct route than the route hitherto used. On 17 May 1869 a spur opened from Bow railway station on the North London Railway line to Bromley Junction, just to the west of the station. A shuttle service operated between Bow and Plaistow until wartime economies saw the service withdrawn on 1 January 1915. The main reason for building this spur was however for freight use.[7]

Increasing use of the station to catch services provided by the LTSR, the NLR and Great Eastern Railway (GER)—which ran services from Fenchurch Street to North Woolwich—saw plans drawn up in 1892 to construct a new station. A fire on 20 December of that year saw these plans brought forward and work was started early in 1893. Bromley Junction was moved 120 yards (110 m) west to accommodate this work and a new 36 lever signal box was opened with the re-sited junction on 1 October 1893.[8] The new station to the west of St. Leonards Street (now Blackwall Tunnel Northern Approach) was opened on 1 March 1894 and the old station on the other side of the bridge was closed.[9]

In 1898 the goods yard was opened on the south side of the line and to the east of the station.

The construction of the Whitechapel and Bow Railway allowed the District Railway (now known as the District line) to start serving the station in 1902, and initially steam services operated through to East Ham with some operating as far as Upminster. The District Line joined the main line at Campbell Road Junction also to the west of the station (and Bromley Junction). Electrification of the system followed in 1905. Delayed by World War I,[10] electrified tracks were extended by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) to Upminster and through services fully resumed in 1932.[11][12]

Westbound platform looking east with the former London, Tilbury and Southend Railway platforms on the right which closed in 1962.

Congestion of the railway through Bromley saw additional tracks provided in 1905. Two new Local Lines (which were the new electrified lines) were added on the north side of the station along with two new platform faces and improved passenger facilities. The new lines, which stretched as far as Abbey Mills Junction (where the North Woolwich trains diverged from the main line), opened on 1 August 1905.[13]

In 1912 the LTSR was taken over by the Midland Railway, although on 1 January 1923 this was grouped into the London Midland & Scottish Railway. In 1927 the local lines were re-signalled with colour light signalling.

The District Railway was incorporated into London Transport in 1933, and became known as the District line. The Hammersmith & City line (then part of the Metropolitan line) started operating services through Bromley on 4 May 1936.[14] The 1947 timetable shows only a few services a day provided by the LMS[15] and a frequent service provided by the District and a peak hours service of the Metropolitan line (now part of the Hammersmith & City line).[16] After nationalisation of the railways in 1948 management of the station passed to British Railways London Midland region although it was then transferred to the Eastern Region on 20 February 1949. The remaining Fenchurch Street–Southend services were withdrawn in 1962 when the main lines were electrified with 25 kV overhead lines.

On 13 September 1959 the spur between Bromley and Bow (NLR) was closed and three years later in 1962, the goods yard closed. The station was renamed to Bromley-by-Bow in 1967, to prevent confusion with Bromley station in the London Borough of Bromley. The continued management of the station by an organisation now providing none of the services became more of an anomaly and in 1969 ownership transferred to the London Underground[17] which came under the authority of the London Transport Executive of the Greater London Council. Another fire in February 1970 led to the demolition of the station buildings (dating from 1894) and a new modern booking office opened on 11 June 1972.[6]

Bomb discovery

On 2 June 2008, an unexploded bomb from World War II was found near where the line crosses the Prescott Channel, not far from the station, causing disruption to trains.[18]

The station today

The station entrance is at a higher level than the platforms (being situated on the road bridge crossing the rail tracks) which are accessible by stairs and lifts.[19] There are no escalators.[20] The station has four platforms, of which only two are currently in use; serving the District and Hammersmith & City lines, which share a track at this point, in both directions. The remaining two platforms formerly served the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway (now operated by c2c). Three ticket barriers and a gate control access to all platforms.[21]

In 2018, lifts were installed at the station, the 73rd on the Underground to gain step-free access. All these upgrades were funded by Transport for London in partnership with Tower Hamlets and London Legacy Development Corporation.[22]

Services

Hammersmith & City line

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

• 6 tph eastbound to Barking[23]
• 6 tph westbound to Hammersmith via King's Cross and Wood Lane[24]

District line

This is the typical off-peak service frequency. During peak times trains also operate to Wimbledon. During off-peak times, 3 trains per hour from Wimbledon terminate at Barking (as of December 2014).

• 12 tph eastbound to Upminster (On Sundays alternate trains run to Barking only)[25]
• 3 tph eastbound to Barking[25]
• 6 tph westbound to Ealing Broadway[26]
• 6 tph westbound to Richmond[26]
• 3 tph westbound to Wimbledon[26]

Connections

London Buses routes 323, 488 and D8 serve the station.[27]

In popular culture

In the BBC soap opera EastEnders, the fictional Walford East Underground station takes the place of Bromley-by-Bow.[28][29]

References

1. "Step free Tube Guide" (PDF). Transport for London. May 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 August 2020.
2. "Multi-year station entry-and-exit figures (2007–2017)" (XLSX). London Underground station passenger usage data. Transport for London. January 2018. Retrieved 22 July 2018.
3. "Station Usage Data" (CSV). Usage Statistics for London Stations, 2018. Transport for London. 21 August 2019. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
4. "Station Usage Data" (XLSX). Usage Statistics for London Stations, 2019. Transport for London. 23 September 2020. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
5. Standard Tube Map (PDF) (Map). Not to scale. Transport for London. May 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on 16 January 2021. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
6. Kay, Peter (April 2015). "Bromley(-by-Bow)". London Rail Record (83): 218–219.
7. Connor, J E (2000). Branch Liines of East London. Midhurst UK: Middleton Press. pp. 90–92. ISBN 1-901706-44-3.
8. Kay, Peter (April 2015). "Bromley(-by-Bow)". London Rail Record (83): 203–205.
9. Forgotten Stations of Greater London by J.E.Connor and B.Halford -page 23
10. "London, Tilbury and Southend Railway" (PDF), Local Studies Information Sheets, Barking and Dagenham London Borough Council, 2008, archived from the original (PDF) on 23 October 2015, retrieved 21 February 2016
11. Rose, Douglas (1999). The London Underground: A diagrammatic history (7 ed.). Douglas Rose. ISBN 1-85414-219-4.
12. Wolmar, Christian (2005). The Subterranean Railway: How the London Underground Was Built and How It Changed the City Forever. Atlantic Books. p. 268. ISBN 1-84354-023-1.
13. Kay, Peter (April 2015). "Bromley(-by-Bow)". London Rail Record (83): 206–207.
14. Kay, Peter (April 2015). "Bromley(-by-Bow)". London Rail Record (83): 209.
15. "Table 214 London, Tilbury, Southend-on-Sea and Shoeburyness". London Midland & Scottish Railway: Passenger Train Services. Timetable World. June 1947. Archived from the original on 16 January 2014. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
16. "Table 217 District Line - Bromley, Plaistow, East Ham, Barking, Upney, Becontree, Heathway, Dagenham, Hornchurch and Upminster". London Midland & Scottish Railway: Passenger Train Services. Timetable World. June 1947. Archived from the original on 16 January 2014. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
17. "Some basic UK rail statistics - Notes". Fifth Dimension Associates. 2009. Archived from the original on 30 July 2012. Retrieved 8 February 2010.
18. "Wartime bomb find disrupts Tube". BBC News. 2 June 2008. Retrieved 27 April 2010.
19. Bromley-by-Bow becomes step-free in boost to Tube accessibility (Map). Retrieved 9 February 2020.
20. "Bromley-by-Bow tube station" (Map). Google Maps. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
21. Bromley-by-Bow Underground Station
22. Matters, Transport for London | Every Journey. "Bromley-by-Bow becomes step-free in boost to Tube accessibility". Transport for London. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
23. "Hammersmith & City line timetable: From Bromley-by-Bow Underground Station to West Ham Underground Station". Transport for London. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
24. "Hammersmith & City line timetable: From Bromley-by-Bow Underground Station to Bow Road Underground Station". Transport for London. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
25. "District line timetable: From Bromley-by-Bow Underground Station to West Ham Underground Station". Transport for London. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
26. "District line timetable: From Bromley-by-Bow Underground Station to Bow Road Underground Station". Transport for London. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
27. "Buses from Bromley-by-Bow and Devons Road" (PDF). TfL. October 2016. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
28. Hywel, Williams (2001). "EastEnders Line". Underground. Archived from the original on 1 May 2015. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
29. Nick, Cooper; Claire, Cooper (2010). "Fictional Stations/Locations". The London Underground in Films and Television. Archived from the original on 1 May 2015. Retrieved 25 January 2015.

External links

• London Transport Museum Photographic Archive
  • Bromley station, 1956
  • Station entrance, 1971
  • Station entrance, 2001