Fenchurch Street | |
|---|---|
| London Fenchurch Street | |
.jpg) Main entrance on Fenchurch Place | |
  Fenchurch Street Location of Fenchurch Street in Central London | |
| Location | City of London |
| Local authority | City of London |
| Managed by | c2c |
| Station code | FST |
| DfT category | A |
| Number of platforms | 4 |
| Fare zone | 1 |
| OSI | Aldgate Bank-Monument  Liverpool Street   Tower Gateway Tower Hill [1] |
| National Rail annual entry and exit | |
| 2020–21 |  3.200 million[2] |
| 2021–22 |  7.795 million[2] |
| 2022–23 | 10.208 million[2] |
| 2023–24 | 10.447 million[2] |
| 2024–25 | 10.863 million[2] |
| Railway companies | |
| Original company | London and Blackwall Railway |
| Pre-grouping | Great Eastern Railway |
| Post-grouping | London and North Eastern Railway |
| Key dates | |
| 20 July 1841 | Opened |
| 13 April 1854 | Rebuilt |
| 1935 | Remodelled |
| Listed status | |
| Listed feature | Front block |
| Listing grade | II |
| Entry number | 1079149[3] |
| Added to list | 14 April 1972 |
| Other information | |
| External links | |
| Coordinates | 51°30′42″N0°04′44″W / 51.51167°N 0.07881°W /51.51167; -0.07881 |
 London transport portal | |
Fenchurch Street railway station, also known asLondon Fenchurch Street,[4] is acentral London railway terminus in the southeastern corner of theCity of London. It takes its name from its proximity toFenchurch Street, a key thoroughfare in the City. The station and all trains are operated byc2c. Services run on lines built by theLondon and Blackwall Railway (L&BR) and theLondon, Tilbury and Southend Railway (LTSR) are to destinations in east London and southEssex, includingUpminster,Grays,Basildon,Southend andShoeburyness.
The station opened in 1841 to serve the L&BR and was rebuilt in 1854 when the LTSR, a joint venture between the L&BR and theEastern Counties Railway (ECR), began operating. The ECR also operated trains out of Fenchurch Street to relieve congestion at its other London terminus atBishopsgate. In 1862 theGreat Eastern Railway was created by amalgamating various East Anglian railway companies (including the ECR) and it shared the station with the LTSR until 1912, when the latter was bought by theMidland Railway. The station came under ownership of theLondon & North Eastern Railway (LNER) following theRailways Act 1921, and was shared by LNER andLondon Midland & Scottish Railway (LMS) services until nationalisation in 1948. The line from the station was electrified in 1961, and closed for seven weeks in 1994.
Fenchurch Street is one of the smallest railway terminals in London in terms of platforms, but one of the most intensively operated. It is the only London terminal with no direct interchange with theLondon Underground, or its own bus stop. Plans to connect it stalled in the early 1980s because of the lack of progress on theJubilee line, but it is within 350 yards (320 m) of both theTower Hill station on theLondon Underground and theTower Gateway station on theDocklands Light Railway.
The station frontage is on Fenchurch Place, adjacent toFenchurch Street in theCity of London. The station has two entrances: one on Fenchurch Place and another on Cooper's Row, near Tower Hill. It has four platforms arranged on two islands elevated on a viaduct.[5] The station has been Grade II listed since 1972[3][6] and the conference venue One America Square is built adjacent to it.[7] Followingrail privatisation in 1994, the station was run byNetwork Rail.[8] Since 1996, the station has been served byc2c.
Fenchurch Street is inLondon fare zone 1 like other terminal stations in the city,[9] but it does not have a direct link to theLondon Underground. The nearest stations on the London Underground network areTower Hill about 0.2 miles (0.32 km) to the southeast[10][a] andAldgate around 0.3 miles (0.48 km) to the northeast.[12]
The area around Fenchurch Street is one of the oldest inhabited parts of London; the name "Fenchurch" derives from the Latinfaenum (hay) and refers to hay markets in the area.[13] The station was the first to be granted permission by theCorporation of London to be constructed inside the City of London, following several refusals against other railway companies.[14]
The original building, designed byWilliam Tite opened on 20 July 1841, serving theLondon and Blackwall Railway (L&BR), replacing a nearby terminus atMinories that had opened in July 1840.[15][16] It had two platforms connected via a stairway to the booking hall.[17] Steam locomotives did not use the station until 1849 because before this time trains were dragged uphill fromBlackwall to Minories, and ran to Fenchurch Street via their own momentum. The reverse journey eastwards required a manual push from railway staff.[18] William Marshall's railway bookstall established at the station in 1841 was the first to be opened in the City of London.[19]
Following the opening of the London and Blackwall Extension Railway on 2 April 1849, services operated from Fenchurch Street toBow & Bromley. Some were extended toVictoria Park & Bow where an interchange existed with theEastern Counties Railway (ECR) fromBishopsgate.[20]
On 26 September 1850, the East and West India Docks and Birmingham Junction Railway (renamed theNorth London Railway (NLR) on 1 January 1853)[21] started operating a service fromBow into Fenchurch Street and the L&BR withdrew its service, closing the line between Gas Factory Junction and Bow & Bromley.[22] The station had two heavily used platforms and adouble track line fromStepney onwards.[23] Following a reduced income at Blackwall (the South Eastern Railway had opened a direct line fromGravesend to London), LBR shareholders voted to align with the ECR and jointly construct theLondon, Tilbury and Southend Railway (LTSR) fromTilbury to Forest Gate Junction. Services would split atStratford, one service to Bishopsgate and the other to Fenchurch Street along the reopened line via Bow & Bromley (although the station did not reopen). To accommodate this service a third line was built between Stepney and Fenchurch Street which was enlarged at this time. The new service commenced on 13 April 1854 using ECR locomotives and stock.[24]
To accommodate the changes, the station was enlarged to designs byGeorge Berkley incorporating a 32 metres (105 ft) by 91 metres (299 ft) trussed-archvaulted roof.[18][b] Two platforms were added at the same time[26] as was a circulating area for L&BR and LTSR traffic.[18] The NLR, wanting its own London terminus instead of co-sharing Fenchurch Street, extended its railway towards the newBroad Street station in 1865.[27]
The railway through Stratford was unable to cope with the extra services, so the LTSR planned to build a more direct line fromBarking to Gas Factory Junction. The third track from Stepney to Fenchurch Street opened in 1856, followed by the direct line from Barking in 1858.[28] LTSR services were diverted from Stratford and a spur was opened at Abbey Mills Junction (east of Bromley) which allowed services to and fromNorth Woolwich to operate directly from Fenchurch Street instead of via Stratford.[29] On 22 August 1856, the line to Loughton was opened, and Fenchurch Street became the usual terminus for its trains, being much more convenient for City commuters than Bishopsgate.
By the 1860s, railways in East Anglia were in financial difficulties, and most lines were leased to the ECR. Although the companies wished to amalgamate they could not obtain government consent until 1862, when theGreat Eastern Railway (GER) was formed.[30] In common with most railways, signalling was fairly basic and trains were separated by time interval. As traffic levels increased there was a need to improve signalling and, in 1869, the GER introducedabsolute block working between Fenchurch Street, Gas Factory Junction and Bow Junction, opening signal boxes at all locations.[31] In the 1870s the flat awning over the station main's entrance was replaced with the current zig-zag canopy.[32]
The station's track layout was rearranged in 1883 with platform extensions, a fifth platform for use by the Blackwall services and a new gantry signal box (which lasted until the 1935 re-modelling).[31] The GER used the station as an alternative toLiverpool Street station during the late-19th and early-20th centuries for former ECR routes.[28] The GER took over operation of the NLR shuttle from Bow in 1869, which it operated until April 1892 when the secondBow Road railway station opened along with a passenger foot connection to the NLR station. Subsequent services into Fenchurch Street were operated by the GER and the LTSR, and three years later the viaduct from Stepney to Fenchurch Street was widened to accommodate a fourth track.[33]
Despite this, overcrowding of LTSR services was still occurring and this persisted until 1902 when the opening of theWhitechapel and Bow Railway offered an alternative route.[34]
In 1903, the GER built theFairlop Loop, a short connecting line betweenIlford andWoodford from where services ran to Liverpool Street and around 36 trains a day ran to Fenchurch Street.[28] In 1912, the Midland Railway (MR) bought and took over operation of the LTSR services.[35]
After theRailways Act 1921 the country's railways were grouped into four companies, with effect from 1 January 1923. At Fenchurch Street, theLondon, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSR) took over operations of the MR, whilst GER services were taken over by theLondon and North Eastern Railway (LNER). Direct trains toGallions were usually routed via Bromley at off-peak hours and a peak shuttle service operated fromCustom House to Gallions. Passengers for theNorth Greenwich branch changed atMillwall Junction. The Blackwall and North Greenwich passenger services were scheduled for closure on 30 June 1926 butthe general strike brought that forward to 3 May.[36]
The station was rebuilt in 1935 to address overcrowding and provide better accommodation for Southend line services.[37] When the former ECR lines transferred to the Underground'sCentral line in 1948, the station was served solely by the former LTSR services.[38][39]
Following nationalisation of Britain's railways in 1948, the station transferred underBritish Railways to theEastern Region although the old LTSR network west of Gasworks Junction was controlled by theLondon Midland Region. On 20 February 1949, the whole LTS line was transferred to theEastern Region, yet despite the organisational changes, the old LTSR still was a distinctive system operated by former LTS and LMS locomotives until electrification.[40]
British Railways electrified the former LTSR line in 1959.[41] Electric services began on 6 November 1961 and a full electric timetable was introduced on 18 June the following year.[42] In the 1980s, the station roof was dismantled and high-rise office blocks were built above the station leaving the 1854 facade intact.[17]
Fenchurch Street station suffered a negative reputation under public ownership. By the end of the 1980s, the former LTSR line was carrying over 50,000 passengers a day on a 50-year old infrastructure. The persistent overcrowding and uncleanliness on trains led to it being dubbed "the misery line". In 1989Sir Robert Reid called the service from Fenchurch Street "wholly unacceptable",[43] whileTeresa Gorman, Member of Parliament forBillericay, subsequently called it "one of the disgraces of our public railway service for many years".[44] Between 1982 and 1992, the station was operated byNetwork SouthEast, one ofBritish Rail's three passenger business sectors, before being handed over to a business unit in preparation for privatisation.[45]
In July 1994, shortly beforerail privatisation, the station closed for seven weeks for an £83 million project to replace signals, track and electrification works. It was the first significant closure of a London terminal station,[44] albeit planned and temporary.
The development ofLakeside Shopping Centre, near Chafford Hundred and Thurrock, increased demand for services from the station.[46] In 2013, Network Rail announced a £3.4m upgrade creating a third exit on Cooper's Row to make connections with Tower Hill easier.[47]
In 2019, a planning application[48] was submitted to the City of London (planning authority) for permission to revamp the station building.[49]
In the 1970s, it was planned to include Fenchurch Street as a station on the plannedLondon UndergroundFleet line. Space was allocated for a new Fenchurch Street Tube station in the basement of New London House, an office block that was constructed next to the main railway station in the 1970s.[50]
Construction of the line byMott, Hay and Anderson andSir William Halcrow and Partners was completed as far asCharing Cross in 1979, and the line came into operation as theJubilee line. It was planned to extend the line eastwards from the end of the track terminus at Charing Cross to Fenchurch Street viaAldwych andLudgate Circus. From Fenchurch Street, the line would have crossed theRiver Thames and continued southeastwards towardsSurrey Docks andLewisham.[51] A revised scheme approved in 1980 envisaged a more northerly route toWoolwich Arsenal andBeckton.[52] By 1981, rising costs and high inflation led to London Transport abandoning the eastwards extension.[53]
The Jubilee line extension that was eventually completed in 1999 followed a different route south of the river, bypassing both Charing Cross and Fenchurch Street and instead heading east viaWaterloo and theGreenwich Peninsula toStratford. The extended Jubilee line crosses the LTS line from Fenchurch Street atWest Ham, and this interchange has altered demand for Fenchurch Street, with many passengers from Essex changing there instead.[54][46]
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Services from Fenchurch Street run towards East London and southEssex, includingBarking,Upminster,Chafford Hundred Lakeside (forLakeside Shopping Centre),Tilbury Town (for theGravesend–Tilbury Ferry and cruise services)Basildon,Southend Central andShoeburyness. As of the June 2024 timetable the typical Monday to Friday off-peak service is:[55]
| tph | Destination | Route | Stopping pattern |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Shoeburyness | via Basildon | semi-fast |
| 2 | Shoeburyness | via Basildon | all stations |
| 2 | Southend Central | via Ockendon and Tilbury Town | all stations |
| 2 | Grays | via Rainham | all stations |
During peak periods services are increased up to 20 trains per hour. Most peak services have 12 cars.[56]
Although the station's capacity is small compared to other London terminals, it has a high footfall, averaging around 16 million passengers annually.[57] A report in 2001 showed approximately 3,000 people commuted daily fromCastle Point to the city via Fenchurch Street,[58] while a 2013 report said it was the busiest station on the LTSR route, with 46,000 daily peak-time passengers.[47]
| Preceding station |  National Rail | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Terminus | c2c London, Tilbury and Southend line | Limehouse | ||
| Abandoned plans | ||||
| Preceding station | London Underground | Following station | ||
| Cannon Street towardsStanmore | Jubilee line Phase 3 (1971/2) (never constructed) | Surrey Docks towardsNew Cross Gate orLewisham | ||
| Jubilee line Phase 3 (1980) (never constructed) | St Katharine Docks towardsWoolwich Arsenal orBeckton | |||
There have been proposals to move the station 380 yards to the east to allow the station to expand to 6 platforms, (up from the current 4) and would be built partly on the site ofTower Gateway DLR station, which would likely be permanently closed.[59]
The new station could be built with direct interchange withTower Hill tube station,[59] which could also have a replacementDLR station forTower Gateway asTransport for London have looked into closingTower Gateway and constructing a replacement on the Bank branch to increase capacity.[60]
A number of goods depots were established near Fenchurch Street owing to the station's proximity to the City of London. This table lists the depots connected to the line between the station and Christian Street Junction just east ofLeman Street:[70][71][72]
| Name | Company | Opening | Closed | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cable Street | Great Eastern Railway | 1870s[73] | ?? | Coal depot – leased by Charringtons |
| City Goods | Midland Railway | 1 October 1862 | 1 July 1949 | Closed after nationalisation (duplication of facilities). Anhydraulic accumulator tower lasted until 2015, when it was demolished |
| Commercial Road | LTSR | 17 April 1886 | 3 July 1967 | |
| East Smithfield | Great Eastern Railway | 17 June 1864 | 1 September 1966 | Short quarter-mile branch that led to the Thames riverside. Marked as London Docks on Railway Clearing House diagram above. |
| Goodmans Yard | L&BR | 1 February 1861 | 1 April 1951 | Built later for ECR and LTSR traffic. Badly damaged duringLondon Blitz. |
| Haydon Square | London North Western Railway | 12 March 1853 | 2 July 1962 | A short fragment of the viaduct serving the depot can be seen today (2015). |
| Mint Street | L&BR then leased to the Great Northern Railway from 1861 | 1 August 1858 | 1 April 1951 | Contained part of the original Minories station building. Known as Royal Mint Street c1870. Badly damaged by bombs in the Blitz on 29 December 1940. – closed after nationalisation (duplication of facilities) |
The poetJohn Betjeman passed through the station on day-trips to Southend, and described it as a "delightful hidden old terminus".[74]
The first documented murder on the British rail network occurred on 9 July 1864, whenFranz Muller murdered Thomas Briggs shortly after a train left the station en route toChalk Farm.[75]
Fenchurch Street is one of four railway stations on the standard UKMonopoly board, alongsideLiverpool Street,Marylebone andKing's Cross. All are former LNER terminal stations.[76]
The 2005football hooliganism filmGreen Street used the station to representManchester Piccadilly.[77]
In theDouglas Adams novelSo Long, and Thanks for All the Fish,Fenchurch was so-named because she was conceived at the station.[78]
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