Abbey Wood railway station

Abbey Wood is a National Rail station in Abbey Wood in southeast London, England. It is served by Southeastern and is between Plumstead and Belvedere stations on the North Kent Line and local Greenwich line services. It is 11 miles 43 chains (18.6 km) measured from London Charing Cross. Since May 2018, the station is also served by Thameslink trains, and is due to be served by Elizabeth line services in 2021, providing a direct service to Central London and on to Heathrow, Maidenhead and Reading, and Luton.

This article is about the station in London. For the station in Bristol, see Filton Abbey Wood railway station.

Abbey Wood
Abbey Wood railway station (2008)
Abbey Wood
Location of Abbey Wood in Greater London
LocationAbbey Wood
Local authorityLondon Borough of Bexley and Royal Borough of Greenwich
Grid referenceTQ473789
Managed byTfL Rail
OwnerNetwork Rail
Station codeABW
DfT categoryC2
Number of platforms2
AccessibleYes[1]
Fare zone4
National Rail annual entry and exit
2015–16 2.929 million[2]
2016–17 2.989 million[2]
2017–18 3.125 million[2]
2018–19 3.769 million[2]
2019–20 3.825 million[2]
Railway companies
Original companySouth Eastern Railway
Pre-groupingSouth Eastern and Chatham Railway
Post-groupingSouthern Railway
Key dates
30 July 1849 (1849-07-30)Opened
Other information
External links
WGS8451.4910°N 0.1214°E / 51.4910; 0.1214
 London transport portal

It is the closest railway station to the suburb of Thamesmead, which is connected to the station by bus.

The station is managed by TfL Rail, despite that none of the company's services yet call there.

Alphabetically, it is the first station in the UK, with the last being Ystrad Rhondda railway station in south Wales.

History
Station platforms, looking eastbound

Opened by the South Eastern Railway on 30 July 1849, the operations of which were handed over to the South Eastern and Chatham Railway in 1899, it became part of the Southern Railway during the grouping of 1923. The line then passed on to the Southern Region of British Railways on nationalisation in 1948. When BR was divided into sectors in the 1980s the station was served by Network SouthEast until the privatisation of British Railways.

During the 1860s William Morris famously used a decorated wagon to commute between this station and his new home at Red House, Bexleyheath, occasionally with his eccentric and artistic house guests.

The ticket office at Abbey Wood was APTIS-equipped by November 1986, making it one of the first stations with the ticketing system which was eventually found across the UK at all staffed British Rail stations by the end of the 1980s.

The station has been rebuilt twice over the past 50 years to cater for the changing nature of the area.[3] The station was to be served by the proposed Greenwich Waterfront Transit, however the project was cancelled by Mayor of London Boris Johnson owing to lack of funds.[4]

Future
Construction of the new station, 2017

Abbey Wood was rebuilt in preparation for Crossrail, which was due to commence operation in 2018 but is now planned to open in 2021.[5] The refurbished station opened on 23 October 2017.[6]

Abbey Wood will be the terminus of one of two eastern branches of Crossrail and will offer interchange between terminating Crossrail services (at 12 trains per hour on new line) and existing Southeastern services. This is instead of continuing services to Ebbsfleet International along existing tracks as those lines are congested and may delay Crossrail services.[7][8]

Crossrail will provide a link north west to ExCeL London and Canary Wharf, then onwards to the city centre, Heathrow Airport and Reading. As of 2012 there are proposals to extend Crossrail further east to Gravesend; the route is safeguarded but it is not intended to be implemented as part of the current phase.[9]

A proposed extension of the London Overground from Barking across the river to Thamesmead and Abbey Wood was proposed in August 2015.[10] An extension from Barking to Barking Riverside has already been confirmed, and it is possible a further extension to Thamesmead and Abbey Wood will follow suit. In 2016, the Mayor Sadiq Khan also proposed a Docklands Light Railway extension from Gallions Reach across the river to Thamesmead and Abbey Wood.

Station buildings

The first station opened with the line in 1849 and was a typical South Eastern Railway brick building with metal platform shelters. In 1987 a new station was constructed which, in 2014, was replaced by Network Rail with an interim station whilst the new Crossrail station is constructed. The Crossrail station has been designed by architects Fereday Pollard and will include step free interchange between platforms and bus connections with the Harrow Manorway, a dual carriageway which runs above the station.

Services

The typical off-peak service from the station is:

Preceding station National Rail Following station
Plumstead   Southeastern
North Kent Line		   Belvedere
  Thameslink
North Kent Line		   Slade Green
  Future development  
Preceding station   Crossrail   Following station
Crossrail
Elizabeth line		Terminus
  Historic services  
Church Manor Way Halt   Southern Railway
North Kent Line		   Belvedere

Connections

London Buses routes 180, 229, 244, 301, 469, B11, school routes 602, 669 and night route N1 serve the station.[11]

References
Notes
  1. "London and South East" (PDF). National Rail. September 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 March 2009.
  2. "Station usage estimates". Rail statistics. Office of Rail Regulation. Please note: Some methodology may vary year on year.
  3. David Glasspool (2007). "Abbey Wood". Kent Rail. Retrieved 29 March 2007.
  4. "Boris Spins Another Cancellation". Boris Watch. 31 March 2009. Retrieved 8 June 2012.
  5. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/nov/08/crossrail-faces-further-delays-and-will-cost-more-than-18bn-tfl
  6. "Abbey Wood's New Station Building Is Now Open". Crossrail Press Office. 23 October 2017. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
  7. "Crossrail, London". Railway Technology. 15 June 2011. Retrieved 8 June 2012.
  8. Dave Arquati. "Crossrail". alwaystouchout.com. Archived from the original on 10 April 2010. Retrieved 8 June 2012.
  9. "Abbey Wood to Hoo Junction". Crossrail. Retrieved 8 June 2012.
  10. "Thamesmead & Abbey Wood Extension". Retrieved 11 August 2015.
  11. "Buses from Abbey Wood" (PDF). TfL. March 2020. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
Bibliography
  • Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7.
  • Jowett, A. (2000). Jowett's Nationalised Railway Atlas. Atlantic Publishing. ISBN 978-0-906899-99-1.
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