Eastern Counties and Thames Junction Railway - Demise

Demise

The lines to Beckton and Gallions closed after bomb damage during the Blitz, as did Tidal Basin station. The line to Beckton reopened only for goods (by-products from the gasworks), finally closing in 1972. The Palace Gates-North Woolwich line continued until 1963, when services were rerouted to Tottenham Hale, later terminating at Stratford.

In pre-empting the closure of the Broad Street line, in 1979 the diesel service was extended to run on the old North London Railway via Dalston Kingsland to Camden Road. Broad Street railway station to that point provided the eastern terminus for what was then called the CrossTown LinkLine, today known as the North London Line.

The start of the renaissance of the line came in 1985, when third rail electrification was extended from Dalston Junction via Stratford to North Woolwich, and electric trains started to run from Richmond through to North Woolwich. The service was however never as popular south of Stratford as on the rest of this route, and as services were enhanced from the original frequency the extra trains were terminated at Stratford. Part of the reason for this was that only one track beyond Custom House station, through the Connaught Tunnel, was electrified, which restricted the service that could be provided on the easternmost section.

In 2006, all North London line services were withdrawn south of Stratford, and the line was closed.