Surrey Quays Station
Address: Lower Road, Rotherhithe, London SE16 2UF
Opened: 7th December 1869
Station Code: SQE
Fare Zone: 2
London Overground Line(s) Served:
East London Line
Service Pattern(s):
8 trains per hour to Highbury & Islington
8 trains per hour to Dalston Junction
4 trains per hour to Clapham Junction
4 trains per hour to Crystal Palace
4 trains per hour to West Croydon
4 trains per hour to New Cross
Interchange(s)
None
Station History
Deptford Road Station was opened by the East London Railway on their line through the Thames Tunnel from Wapping to New Cross with services operated by the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway.
Services through the station were enhanced less than two years later when, on 13th March 1871 as part of their South London Line construction, a spur of track was opened just south of the station to allow trains to serve the LB&SCR’s Old Kent Road station.
Further increase to services through the station was completed on 10th April 1876, when the line from Wapping was extended to Shoreditch and via a new connection with the Great Eastern Railway into Liverpool Street.
Expansion of the line and its services continued apace with a spur to the South Eastern Railway at New Cross opening on 1st April 1880, followed by a connection being established with the Metropolitan/Metropolitan & District Railways at Shoreditch on 3rd March 1884 that allowed their trains to serve the East London Railway’s stations.
Electrification of the Metropolitan District Railway in 1905 saw their services along the line cease, followed by the Metropolitan Railway who suspended their services on 2nd December 1906.
The controlling railways (Great Eastern, London, Brighton and South Coast and South Eastern) of the East London Railway funded the line’s electrification in 1910, this was followed by the renaming of the station to Surrey Docks in 1911 before the first electric service, operated by the Metropolitan Railway ran on 31st March 1913.
Following the 1921 Railways Act, the grouping of the railways saw the Great Eastern absorbed into the London North Eastern Railway, who continued to operate the goods traffic on the line while the Metropolitan Railway continued the passenger service.
Ownership of the line and its stations passed to the Southern Railway in 1925, although the line was still leased to its operating committee of the Southern, LNER, Metropolitan and District Railways.
Upon the creation of the London Passenger Transport Board in 1933, the line and its stations came under London Transport control, being operated as the East London Branch of the Metropolitan Line.
Nationalisation of the Railways in 1948 saw goods traffic on the line transfer to British Railways, although London Underground continued to provide the passenger service. Goods traffic continued until 1962 when Surrey Docks finally closed, with the Liverpool Street passenger trains being ceased when the connection at Shoreditch was removed in 1966.
Following construction of the nearby shopping centre, the station was renamed Surrey Quays on 24th October 1989.
Due to the deteriorating state of the Thames Tunnel the line and its stations were closed in 1995 to allow remedial works to be carried out. The works were completed and the line reopened in 1998.
With the desire to convert the line as part of the new London Overground network, it was closed in its entirety along with its stations on 22nd December 2007.
Following the conversion, the line and its stations were reopened as part of London Overground’s East London Line on 23rd May 2010 with services between Dalston Junction and Crystal Palace, New Cross and West Croydon.
The second phase of the new line, providing services to Clapham Junction was opened on 9th December 2012.
In February 2021, Transport for London announced plans to upgrade the station with a new ticket hall and entrance, while also making the station step-free. Works commenced in October 2023 and are due to be completed in 2026.
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