Tower Gateway DLR station

Tower Gateway is a Docklands Light Railway (DLR) station in the City of London and is located near the Tower of London and Tower Bridge. It adjoins the tracks to Fenchurch Street station and is located on the site of a former station called Minories. Tower Gateway is within London fare zone 1.

Tower Gateway
The station entrance in 2015
Tower Gateway
Location of Tower Gateway in Central London
LocationCity of London
Local authorityCity of London
Managed byDocklands Light Railway
Number of platforms2 (facing 1 tracks)
AccessibleYes[1]
Fare zone1
OSIAldgate
Fenchurch Street
Tower Hill [2]
Cycle parkingYes
Toilet facilitiesNo
DLR annual boardings and alightings
2012 4.605 million[3]
2013 4.053 million[4]
2014 3.837 million[4]
2015 4.072 million[4]
2016 4.101 million[5]
Railway companies
Original companyDocklands Light Railway
Key dates
31 August 1987Opened
Other information
WGS8451.5104°N 0.0746°W / 51.5104; -0.0746
 London transport portal

It is a short walk from both Tower Hill Underground station and Fenchurch Street. Access at street level from the Minories is via escalator, stairs or lift at the western end of the station. A pedestrian crossing connects the station with Tower Hill station, its closest London Underground connection. A narrow secondary staircase entrance at the eastern end of the platform, improved considerably in the early 2000s, descends to Mansell Street. It serves the eastern edge of the City of London financial district and development around St Katharine Docks.

History

It was opened in 1987 as the western terminus of the initial DLR system and the station closest to central London.

The underground extension to Bank, which opened in 1991, diverges from the original route between Tower Gateway and Shadwell, the next station to the east. It dives down a steep ramp not far from the eastern end of the platforms, from which it is clearly visible. Tower Gateway is the terminus for the less busy service to Beckton. Journeys to other branches of the DLR normally require a change.

In keeping with the DLR's original basic lightweight philosophy, Tower Gateway is a simple elevated terminus. As built it had two tracks and a cross-over. When the extension to Bank opened, its importance was substantially reduced. Before reconstruction it had a fairly narrow central platform, and a single track leading from the main route to a set of points immediately prior to the platforms.

Further major alterations began on 30 June 2008. The station reopened on 2 March 2009, rebuilt as a single-track terminus to enable three-car trains with a platform on each side of the train, one for arriving passengers and the other for departures (the Spanish solution).

  • The entrance to the station in 1988.
  • The original platforms, with the throat of Fenchurch Street railway station to the right.
  • View from the re-modelled station looking east, with Fenchurch Street approach tracks to the left.
  • View of the re-modelled station looking west to buffers.
  • Looking east past the buffers towards a train awaiting departure.
Preceding station   DLR   Following station
TerminusDocklands Light Railway

Future

A Transport Supporting Paper released by the office of the Mayor of London envisages the closure of Tower Gateway DLR station and the branch serving it, with a replacement interchange being provided via a new station on the Bank branch connected to Tower Hill station. The reasoning is given that currently, 90 per cent of DLR City passengers use Bank station, but only 75 per cent of services go there; this would increase service to Bank from 23tph to 30tph, thereby unlocking more capacity on the Bank branch.[6]

Connections

London Buses routes 42, 78, 100, 343 and night route N551 serve the station.[7]

References
  1. "Step free Tube Guide" (PDF). Transport for London. May 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 August 2020.
  2. "Out-of-Station Interchanges" (Microsoft Excel). Transport for London. 2 January 2016. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
  3. Transport for London (12 February 2013). "Freedom of Information DLR usage 1213". Transport for London. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
  4. "Up-to-date DLR entry/exit statistics for each station" (XLSX). What Do They Know. Transport for London. 18 March 2016. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  5. "Passenger Numbers - Docklands Light Railway Limited" (XLSX (after downloading zip)). What Do They Know. Transport for London. 8 June 2017. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
  6. "London Infrastructure Plan 2050: Transport Supporting Paper" (PDF). Mayor of London.
  7. "Tower Gateway (Zone 1)". TfL. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
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