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North Greenwich tube station

Coordinates: 51°30′02″N 0°00′13″E / 51.500556°N 0.003611°E / 51.500556; 0.003611
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North Greenwich London Underground
Main station entrance, April 2009
North Greenwich is located in Greater London
North Greenwich
North Greenwich
Location of North Greenwich in Greater London
LocationGreenwich Peninsula
Local authorityRoyal Borough of Greenwich
Managed byLondon Underground
OwnerTransport for London
Number of platforms3
AccessibleYes[1]
Fare zone2 and 3
London Underground annual entry and exit
2018Decrease 24.66 million[2]
2019Increase 28.28 million[3]
2020Decrease 9.64 million[4]
2021Increase 11.28 million[5]
2022Increase 21.20 million[6]
Railway companies
Original companyLondon Regional Transport
Key dates
14 May 1999Opened
Other information
External links
Coordinates51°30′02″N 0°00′13″E / 51.500556°N 0.003611°E / 51.500556; 0.003611
London transport portal

North Greenwich is a London Underground station.[7] Despite its name, it is not in the local area historically known as North Greenwich, on the Isle of Dogs, north of the River Thames; a completely different North Greenwich station used to be there, from 1872 until 1926. It is actually closer to Charlton than to Greenwich; however, it is at the northernmost tip of the Royal Borough of Greenwich, which perhaps gives the best explanation of the name.

The station lower concourse between the escalators and the oyster ticketing system, July 2024
Station platforms 2 and 3, July 2024

The tube station opened on 14 May 1999. It is adjacent to The O2 (originally the Millennium Dome) at the northern end of the Greenwich Peninsula, on the south bank of the Thames. It is the easternmost below-ground station on the line.

It is served by the Jubilee line between Canary Wharf and Canning Town stations, in Travelcard Zone 2 and Zone 3.

History

[edit]

An Underground station was first proposed for the Greenwich Peninsula in a government report on the redevelopment of London's Docklands published in 1973. The proposal, part of the then unbuilt Fleet line, proposed a line running from Charing Cross via Fenchurch Street to Beckton, with stations on each side at Millwall and Custom House. The proposal was developed during the 1970s as the Fleet line developed into the Jubilee line. The route was approved in 1980, but financial constraints meant that the route was not proceeded with.[8]

In the early 1990s, the Jubilee Line Extension was proposed to serve the growing Docklands developments. A station was originally planned at Blackwall north of the river, but the line was diverted between Canary Wharf and Stratford underneath the Thames to serve the Greenwich peninsula. The line would therefore would serve Port Greenwich, a planned housing development on the site of disused gasworks.[9][10] It was initially unclear whether or not a station would be built on the site, with British Gas plc contributed £25 million towards the opening of the station.[9][10]

Architects Alsop, Lyall and Störmer were chosen by Roland Paoletti to design the station, with initial proposals of the station box open to the air as a sunken garden, with ticket hall suspended above the tracks.[11] To allow for future development above the station, a decision was made to put a roof on the station instead.[11]

Construction began in 1993, with the site on the Greenwich peninsula used for tunnelling under the River Thames.[12] In 1996, Greenwich was chosen as the site for the Millennium Experience, with the under construction station considered to be a key part of the transport infrastructure.[13] The station was opened on 14 May 1999, by Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott.[14] During 2000, thousands of visitors used the station to visit the Millennium Experience at the Millennium Dome. In May 2001, the station car park was opened.[15] Originally with 800 spaces, it now has 509 parking spaces for use by Underground customers.[16]

On 20 October 2016, the military conducted a controlled explosion on an improvised explosive device at North Greenwich after a passenger spotted an unattended bag filled with "wires and an alarm clock" aboard a Jubilee line train.[17] No injuries were reported,[18] and a suspect was later detained.[19] The man, Damon Smith, was convicted of possession of an explosive substance with intent and was sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment.[20]

Station design

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The station platform roundel

North Greenwich is one of the largest stations on the Jubilee line, capable of handling around 20,000 passengers an hour, having been designed to cope with the large number of visitors expected at the Millennium Dome (now The O2 Arena).

The striking blue-tiled and glazed interior, with raking concrete columns rearing up inside the huge underground space, was designed by the architects practice Alsop, Lyall and Störmer.[21][11] The blue tiles on walls were inspired by the design of MTR stations in Hong Kong, where every station adopts a livery in order to help passengers to recognise their alighting stop.[22] As with other stations on the Jubilee Line Extension, all platforms are equipped with platform screen doors.

Station concourse

The track layout allows trains from both Stanmore and Stratford to terminate at North Greenwich. A number of trains from Stanmore terminate here during peak and off-peak times, and enter platform 2 instead of the usual platform 3. Trains head back towards central London from platform 2. During times of disruption and engineering work, trains from and back to Stratford can be routed into and out of platform 2.

The track layout at North Greenwich was designed to allow a branch off the line from this station. A branch towards Thamesmead was planned; however this has not been developed beyond the initial proposal, and is not currently in Transport for London's investment programme.

Connections

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The bus station is interconnected and above the tube station on the surface for direct transfer with London Buses routes 108, 129, 132, 161, 180, 188, 335, 422, 472 and 486 serving the station. Additionally, routes 108, 188, 472 and 486 provide a 24-hour service.[23]

The IFS Cloud Cable Car opened nearby on 28 June 2012, providing a link between the Greenwich Peninsula and the Royal Victoria Dock and ExCeL London.[24]

References

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  1. ^ "Step free Tube Guide" (PDF). Transport for London. April 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on 15 May 2021.
  2. ^ "Station Usage Data" (CSV). Usage Statistics for London Stations, 2018. Transport for London. 23 September 2020. Archived from the original on 14 January 2023. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  3. ^ "Station Usage Data" (XLSX). Usage Statistics for London Stations, 2019. Transport for London. 23 September 2020. Archived from the original on 9 November 2020. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  4. ^ "Station Usage Data" (XLSX). Usage Statistics for London Stations, 2020. Transport for London. 16 April 2021. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
  5. ^ "Station Usage Data" (XLSX). Usage Statistics for London Stations, 2021. Transport for London. 12 July 2022. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  6. ^ "Station Usage Data" (XLSX). Usage Statistics for London Stations, 2022. Transport for London. 4 October 2023. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  7. ^ Horne, M: The Jubilee Line, page 79. Capital Transport Publishing, 2000.
  8. ^ Horne, Mike (2000). The Jubilee Line. Capital Transport. pp. 50–52. ISBN 1-85414-220-8.
  9. ^ a b "Jubilee Line Extension". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). 18 May 1992. Retrieved 22 June 2010.
  10. ^ a b Schoon, Nicholas (30 June 1994). "Greenwich gets on line". The Independent. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
  11. ^ a b c Powell, Kenneth (2001). Will Alsop 1990-2000: book 2. London : New York: Laurence King Publishing. ISBN 978-1-85669-238-0.
  12. ^ Mitchell, Bob (2003). Jubilee Line Extension: From Concept to Completion. London: Thomas Telford Publishing. p. 49. ISBN 0727730282.
  13. ^ "BBC News | UK | The Dome - from conception to birth". news.bbc.co.uk. 6 February 2000. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
  14. ^ "Prescott launches Dome tube link". news.bbc.co.uk. 14 May 1999. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
  15. ^ "Park and ride from North Greenwich". The Tube. 9 May 2001. Archived from the original on 7 August 2001. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
  16. ^ "North Greenwich Station Car Park (TfL)". www.sabaparking.co.uk. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
  17. ^ "North Greenwich Tube terror scare sparked by 'bag full of wires'". Evening Standard. London. 21 October 2016. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  18. ^ "Counter terrorism arrest over North Greenwich Tube device". BBC News. 21 October 2016. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  19. ^ Nagesh, Ashitha (21 October 2016). "Man arrested on suspicion of terrorism over 'device' at North Greenwich station". Metro. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  20. ^ "Damon Smith jailed for planting failed Tube bomb". BBC News. 26 May 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2017.
  21. ^ "North Greenwich Underground Station". Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE). Archived from the original on 18 January 2011. Retrieved 21 January 2013.
  22. ^ Powell, Kenneth (2000). The Jubilee Line extension. London: Laurence King. ISBN 978-1-85669-184-0. OCLC 42444848.
  23. ^ "Buses from North Greenwich" (PDF). TfL. 29 July 2023. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
  24. ^ "Boarding passes ready as first Emirates Air Line flight takes off". Transport for London. 28 June 2012. Retrieved 30 June 2011.
[edit]
Preceding station London Underground Following station
Canary Wharf
towards Stanmore
 Jubilee line Canning Town
towards Stratford
Abandoned Plans
Preceding station London Underground Following station
Millwall
towards Stanmore
 Jubilee line
Phase 3 (1980) (never constructed)
 Custom House
towards Woolwich Arsenal or Beckton
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