East London line opening tour – Whitechapel

In the next part of this exciting East London line tour, we look at the stations that existed on the old section of the East London line starting with Whitechapel. This used to be the one time terminus for East London line trains when Shoreditch closed for most of the day. But now this station has reopened as a through station – one thing that passengers must get used to! But once you have used it a few times, it should be okay. Anyway, here is a small photo gallery of the Overground station.

1. The Overground roundel for Whitechapel. Notice how different it is from the Underground roundel? It is newer of course, but it has an orange ring instead

2. This is a view looking southbound towards Shadwell.

3. Looking northbound towards Shoreditch High Street. The footbridge is brand new. This is because before the extension, most London Underground A stock trains used to terminate at the current northbound platform. But now because travellers from the District and Hammersmith & City line that use the stairwells direct to the northbound platform only, this footbridge provides quick access to the southbound platform.

4. A view looking southbound from the footbridge

5. Access to the footbridge from the southbound platform. This is a quick way to access the District and Hammersmith & City lines

6. This is another view looking southbound

7. The bridge crossing above is that of the District and Hammersmith & City lines

8. The roundel sign on the panel section of the platform. Notice that they haven’t bothered changing the friezes? The colour still represents that of the former East London line!

9. This stairwell directly connects to the District and Hammersmith & City lines at footbridge level

10. The opposite direction allows passengers to step down to the northbound or southbound Overground platforms. A little but ahead is the exit.

11. The corridor that leads to the westbound District and Hammersmith & City line platforms

12. The corridor that leads to the eastbound District and Hammersmith & City line platforms

And so this is the first connection to the London Underground. But as many of you may have spotted, this is an anomaly since Overground is directly below Underground – how strange is that? Don’t forget to check London Moving (www.lewminesce.co.uk/londonmoving) for more information about these new East London line stations plus more photos. The next blog in this series looks at Shadwell.