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Woolwich is an Elizabeth line
station in Woolwich in London, England which opened on 24 May
2022, and has up to 12 trains per hour to Canary Wharf and
Central London.
Woolwich railway station was built by Crossrail as part of the
Crossrail (Elizabeth line) rail project. Crossrail is jointly
sponsored by the Department for Transport (DfT) and Transport
for London (TfL). The construction of a station at Woolwich was
not proposed as part of the original Crossrail route. However,
after talks between Greenwich London Borough Council and
developer Berkeley Homes about the £162 million required for the
station, the House of Commons Select Committee recognised its
inclusion in March 2007.
In May 2021, Crossrail said that Woolwich station had recently
entered the T-12 process, meaning that the station was
considered to be 12 weeks away from handover to TfL. Reaching
this milestone meant that work was now focused on testing and
commissioning systems, and the contractor began demobilising
staff across the site. The station was officially handed over to
TfL on 25 June 2021, and opened along with the rest of the
Elizabeth line from Paddington to Abbey Wood on 24 May 2022.
The station was built on the south-east portion of the Crossrail
line that ends at Abbey Wood, and is the penultimate station on
this branch. The Woolwich redevelopment site at Royal Arsenal is
a modern waterside housing and retail development area adjacent
to the station. It is spread across approximately 30 hectares
(75 acres) of land and is being developed by Berkeley Homes. The
site is being developed with the construction of approximately
2,517 new homes, in addition to the 1,248 homes already built.
The area is also to include a new cultural quarter known as
Woolwich Works, as well as infrastructural developments such as
retail stores, restaurants and cafes, offices, hotels and a
cinema.
The station box is 276 m (906 ft) long and 14 m (46 ft) below
ground, and sits below a major housing development site. The
station is built by Balfour Beatty after a design by Weston
Williamson, Mott MacDonald and Arup Group (engineering). The
station entrance in Dial Arch Square features a 30-metre wide
(98 ft) bronze-clad portal. Natural light will enter through the
main entrance and ceiling into the ticket hall, whilst a
connection to daylight is present below ground on the platforms.
Set back from the main street and surrounded by a series of
heritage listed buildings and a large retail unit, the station
acts as a simple portal connecting all these elements together.
The station entrance opens out on to Dial Arch Square, a green
space, flanked by a series of Grade I and II listed buildings.
In addition to enhancing the experience in and out of the
station, the urban realm design also helps connect the station
with the wider town centre. In addition to the station
improvements, Crossrail has been working with the Royal Borough
of Greenwich on proposals for improvements to the area around
the station.
The closest existing station is Woolwich Arsenal which has
National Rail and Docklands Light Railway services. The stations
are separate but within a short walking distance of each other,
and have an out-of-station interchange. There are also Thames
Clipper river bus services from Woolwich Arsenal Pier to central
London. London Buses routes 53, 54, 96, 99, 122, 161, 177, 180,
244, 291, 301, 380, 422, 469, 472 and night routes N1 and N53
serve the station.
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