Tower Gateway DLR station

London stations
name = Tower Gateway


manager = Docklands Light Railway
zone = 1
locale = Tower Hill
borough = City of London
start=1987
platforms= 2

Tower Gateway is a Docklands Light Railway station near the Tower of London, closed temporarily from June 2008 to early 2009. It is in Travelcard Zone 1. It adjoins the tracks to Fenchurch Street station and is on the site of the closed Minories railway station.

It is a short walk from Tower Hill and Fenchurch Street stations. Access at street level from the Minories is via escalator, stairs or lift at the western end of the station. A pedestrian crossing and underpass connect the station with Tower Hill tube 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.

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 the station had two tracks and a cross-over. When the extension to Bank was opened, its importance was substantially reduced. Before the current closure 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 at the station on 30 June 2008. They were originally scheduled to finish in April 2009 but it is now hoped to re-open the station in February. During this time it will be closed and rebuilt as a single-track terminus to enable 3-car trains to use the station. It will have a platform on each side of the train, one for arriving passengers and the other for departures. http://improvements.dlr.co.uk/images/projects/tower_gateway/tower_gateway_artistlarge.jpg

During the station's closure the only route that operated to it has been reduced to a Beckton - Canning Town shuttle service.

External links

* [http://www.tfl.gov.uk/gettingaround/transportaccessibility/dlr/3239.aspx Docklands Light Railway website - Tower Gateway station page]

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