Shoreditch

East London Line

SHOREDITCH (Pt.1)

(1876 - 2006)

The planned closure of this station as part of the works for the East London extension should have occurred years ago. Indeed the extension to Dalston Junction that caused the closure (and eventual replacement) of this station should have been completed this year. As it is, construction is well behind the originally proposed 2006 completion date.

For a full history of the East London line, see Clive's UndergrounD Lines Guide.

Map showing a few areas of interest:

- The yellow shading is the now demolished Broad Street station. Its line north of New Inn Yard will be taken over by the East London line extension.

- The purple area is Liverpool Street station. Shoreditch station at one time had a through connection to this station.

- The light red area is the first G.E.R. terminus (replaced by Liverpool St) which subsequently was used as a goods station. Its site will be used for the new Shoreditch High Street station.

- The green area is the recently closed Shoreditch station on the East London Line. The route of its future connection to the old Broad Street line is indicated by the blue line.

- The station seen on the old Broad Street line at the top of the map is its own Shoreditch station, closed in 1940. By taking over this line, the East London line will have two disused Shoreditch stations on its route!

A small 'then & now' section - move your cursor over the images to see equivalent photos taken in the last month of service:

Shoreditch station building.

The East London Line extension was due to be opened in 2006, however the building of the line has been delayed by legal action instigated by London Railway Heritage Society who claimed that demolition of the Bishopsgate Goods Yard was unnecessary. They lost their case on 2/5/03 when a high court judge deemed that "It is difficult to see how it could conceivably be said that the desirability of retaining the goods yard should outweigh the need for an immediate progression of the Tube line extension."

Facing south.

The route for the northward extension will divert from Whitechapel station to a new station (Shoreditch High St) built on the old Bishopsgate Goods Yard site, then over the old Broad Street main line route to Dalston (via stations at Hoxton, and Haggerston). The second phase, if ever built, will see it extended along the North London line to Highbury & Islington.

A possible future option is to extend past Highbury & Islington, all the way to Willesden Junction.

This station on the East London line (northwards from Whitechapel) was only open during weekday peak hours and Sunday mornings (for Brick Lane market). For the northward extension, the Scheduled Works state that the new line (from a southbound perspective) will join "... the course of the East London Line between Shoreditch station and Whitechapel station, terminating at a point 20 metres north west of the junction of Selby Street with Vallance Road."

The new bridges required to carry the line over the Great Eastern Railway into Liverpool Street, will probably cause Shoreditch to be decimated.

Facing south(bound). Even in the late 1970s when this photo was taken, the decline of the station appeared to be terminal.

The route used to continue through to the British Rail lines to Liverpool Street main line station. The connection remained until the 1960s and was used until then for regular BR worked parcels trains at night, as well as through Sunday excursions from Eastern Region (and from Loughton on the Central Line) to such places as Brighton, Eastbourne and Margate. These reversed in Liverpool St.

(Info: David Burrows)

The tracks leading from Shoreditch down to Whitechapel station.

Panorama of the station. Trains running this line comprised of only three cars, therefore not all the platform length was utilised.
The 'lump' in the middle of the shot is the barrier preventing passenger access from the in-use section of platform to the not-in-use section.
Contrary to the visual illusion given here, it did not extend over the track to the opposite platform!

(June 2006)

(continues on next page...)

The official East London Line website is here.

Up to date details on the East London Line extension are at alwaystouchout.com

For another site about Shoreditch station with some interesting photos, click here.

Shoreditch (Pt.2)

Photos taken between 1977 and 1981, except where stated.