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Fenchurch Street railway station
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Fenchurch Street is a railway station in the south eastern corner of the City of London close by the Tower of London and two miles (3.2 km) east of Charing Cross. The station is the smallest terminus in terms of platforms in London and one of the most intensively operated. Uniquely, it does not have a direct link to the London Underground, but a second entrance at Crosswall (also known as the Tower entrance) is near to Tower Hill tube station and Tower Gateway DLR station, and Aldgate tube station is also nearby. It is one of eighteen UK railway stations managed by Network Rail.[2]
Design
The station facade is of grey stock brick and has a rounded gable roof. In the 1960s a flat awning over the entrance was replaced with the zig-zag canopy seen today. Above, the first floor facade has 11 round-arched windows, and above these is the station clock, which has been returned to working order in recent years. The station has four platforms arranged on two islands elevated on a viaduct. The station operates at capacity, especially during peak hours. To avoid overcrowding of the station, trains arriving during the morning peak period use alternate island platforms whenever possible. Office blocks (including the 15 floor One America Square) have been built above the station platforms in two places with only one short section of canopied platform and another short section of exposed platform. The station has two exits; a main entrance to Fenchurch Place and another with access to Tower Hill Underground Station. The main station concourse is arranged on two levels connected by stairs, escalators and lifts. There is a ticket office at each entrance and retail outlets located on both levels of the station.
Destinations
As of 2006, Fenchurch Street is served by c2c, with services to East London and south Essex which call at stations including West Ham, Barking, Upminster, Basildon, Benfleet, Chafford Hundred (for Lakeside Shopping Centre), Grays, Tilbury, Southend and Shoeburyness. The typical off peak service consists of eight trains per hour (tph) arriving and departing Fenchurch Street:
During peak periods services are increased to approximately 20 trains per hour with some trains terminating short at Laindon while others run fast as far as Benfleet.
History
The station was the first to be constructed inside the City; the original station was designed by William Tite and was opened on 20 July 1841[3] for the London and Blackwall Railway (L&BR), replacing a nearby terminus at Minories that had opened in July 1840. The station was rebuilt in 1854, following a design by George Berkeley, adding a vaulted roof and the main facade. The station became the London terminus of the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway (LT&SR) in 1858; additionally, from 1850 until the opening of Broad Street station in 1865 it was also the City terminus of the North London Railway. The Great Eastern Railway (GER) also used the station as an alternative to an increasingly overcrowded Liverpool Street station for the last part of the 19th and first half of the 20th century over the routes of the former Eastern Counties Railway.[4] The L&BR effectively closed in 1926 after the cessation of passenger services east of Stepney. When the former Eastern Counties lines transferred to the Central line in 1948 the LT&SR became the sole user of the station.
Connection to the Underground
In the 1970s Fenchurch Street was considered an integral part of the proposed Fleet Line. This would have brought it into the London Underground network. An extension from the end of the existing track terminus at Charing Cross to Fenchurch Street via Aldwych and Ludgate Circus would then have seen the line go on to a destination in East London, most probably via a new station at St Katharine Docks. Political wrangling delayed the extension, despite being considered the highest priority transport project in the city, and when in 1999 the extension was finally completed as part of the Jubilee Line the route did not go through Fenchurch Street, but instead went south of the River before cutting back Northwards at North Greenwich. Fenchurch Street remains isolated from the London Underground network, although within close walking distance of Tower Hill tube station.
In media
- Fenchurch Street is one of the four stations featured in the standard UK edition of the game of Monopoly.
- The name of the clothing brand Fenchurch is derived from the station.
Gallery
The main entrance to Fenchurch Street
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Side entrance to Fenchurch Street for access to Tower Hill
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Looking west down Fenchurch Street
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References
External links
Coordinates: 51°30′42″N 0°04′44″W / 51.51167, -0.07881
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