History
The station occupies the north end of the former Thames foot tunnel built by Marc Isambard Brunel between 1825–1843, and subsequently adapted for railway traffic. Access to the station is by lift or a flight of stairs built into one of the original access shafts of the Thames Tunnel.
The station was originally opened as the northern terminus of the East London Railway on 7 December 1869 as Wapping and Shadwell, and the station was renamed Wapping on 10 April 1876, when the line was extended northwards to Liverpool Street, via a new station at Shadwell. The earliest trains were provided by the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway, whose system connected with the line at New Cross Gate. Underground trains of the Metropolitan and the Metropolitan District Railways first served the station on 1 October 1884, but the station was last served by District trains on 31 July 1905.
The station was extensively remodelled between 1995 and 1998, when the entire East London Line - including Wapping station - was closed due to repair work on the tunnels under the Thames. Vitreous enamel panels by Nick Hardcastle showing the station and the area in former and modern times were installed on the platforms.
Read more about this topic: Wapping Railway Station
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—Eugène Ionesco (b. 1912)