Stratford International station is a main line railway and Docklands Light Railway station located in Stratford in the London Borough of Newham in east London, United Kingdom. The station opened on 30 November 2009 for Southeastern services on High Speed 1, although the station building was completed in April 2006. The station is managed by Southeastern, who operate all trains serving it.
It is located on the eastern edge of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, adjacent to the subsequently opened Westfield Stratford City shopping centre. On 31 August 2011 an extension of the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) was opened to connect the station directly to the wider London public transport network and Stratford station slightly to the south. The DLR station is physically separate, across the road from the High Speed 1 station. Oyster Cards are valid for travel at the DLR station, but not at the High Speed 1 station. The four-platform station is built within Stratford Box, a 1.1 kilometres (0.7 mi) concrete-sided cutting.
The station is on the High Speed 1 railway between St. Pancras and Ebbsfleet International. As the station lies just inside the eastern boundary of the London Olympic Park, much of the surrounding land was little more than construction site until mid-2012.
The tracks descend into tunnel at both ends of the station as its platforms are closer to the surface than the tunnels; some of the platforms have a noticeable dip along their length at the east end. Stratford International has four platforms in the station box: two at the outer edges and two shorter ones forming a central island. The mainline through tracks run down each side of the station between the adjacent platforms. There is a waiting room on the island platforms but not on the outer platforms.
Thirty-five metres beyond the eastern portals, the tunnels pass just below the Central line tunnels turning north from Stratford. The bottom invert of each Central line tunnel is only 4.3 metres (14 ft) and 8.0 metres (26 ft) above the high-speed running tunnels.
The station was not authorised by the Channel Tunnel Rail Link Act 1996 and an order under the Transport and Works Act 1992 had to be made to allow for its construction. In the centre of the station is a single-track inclined viaduct, rising to the east end along and above the length of the island platforms. This is to allow out-of-service trains to leave the station box and reach the depot at Temple Mills.
London Buses routes 97; 308; 339; D8; and N205 serve the station.
The original intended purpose of Stratford International station was to act as the London stop for regional Eurostar trains bypassing St Pancras and continuing to other destinations in Britain. However, these services did not come into being, and Rob Holden, chief executive of LCR and deputy chairman of Eurostar, stated that, "stopping a high-speed train seven minutes out of St Pancras is less than ideal", leaving only the domestic Southeastern trains serving the station. Critics hailed the station as a white elephant.
By the time Southeastern was serving the station, the Transport Secretary Lord Adonis was urged by Sir Robin Wales, Mayor of Newham, and Peter Miller, Westfield's CEO, to order Eurostar to stop at the station. John Burton, development director of Westfield's Stratford City mall, said domestic services were a "poor substitute" for Eurostar: "International commuters are essential in order to realise the vision of a major metropolitan centre for east London. Direct international services will be a key part of the legacy of the Olympics."
Miller and local politicians including former Mayor Ken Livingstone warned that international services would be vital for the success of the Stratford City scheme and the regeneration of East London. London Assembly member Andrew Boff has suggested that rail operators considering running international trains should be forced to stop at Stratford International as part of their High Speed 1 line access. However, Eurostar could not stop during the 2012 London Olympics because of the high frequency of the Javelin service.
There are several other potential operators that may use the station for International services including Deutsche Bahn's proposed London-Frankfurt service and the "Transmanche Metro" project to Calais via local stations.