It’s always bothered me a wee bit that Stratford International is the closest TfL station to my favourite bits of the Olympic Park. Located south of whatever the Olympic Village is called now, it’s just a few minutes from the Wetlands Walk, the Timber Lodge and the landscaped slopes of the Lower Lea Valley.
Why does it frustrate me so? Well, if you’re travelling in from Leyton or Leytonstone, you have to change at Stratford and ride the DLR around a big ol’ Westfield-shaped loop to get there. No one wants to change at Stratford if they can help it, and no one wants to walk through Westfield or around Montfichet Road to get t’park either.
Extending the DLR north of Stratford International
So, I put it to you that Stratford International DLR station shouldn’t be out on a limb. It shouldn’t be the end of the line. It should carry on going north – you know, closer to my house. This wouldn’t just benefit me, but the thousands and thousands of people who live relatively close to the Olympic Park, but who don’t have decent rail access to it.
The big ol’ loop between Stratford and Stratford International. Credit: TfL
It would also breathe new life into places without decent public transport links – like Thatched House on the historically troubled E11/E15 border and Leyton Grange in E10 – while reducing overcrowding on the Central line, especially around Stratford station itself.
Now, this idea is very much pie in the sky. It would require billions of pounds of investment (which TfL definitely doesn’t have) and many years of disruption. There aren’t any abandoned lines lying around that can be utilised. So, while it’s never ever gonna happen, here’s what an extension of the DLR north of Stratford International might look like on a TfL map (yes, I did this all by myself. And yes, the font is slightly off)…
In the interests of scale, here’s what it would look like on Google Maps (beautiful, isn’t it?):
So, two branches: one to Bakers Arms at Leyton’s northern extremity, and another to Leytonstone. Let’s begin on the first branch, with that much-needed connection between Stratford International and Leyton.
Branch one: Stratford International to Bakers Arms
There are big plans for Leyton station, which aside from being absolutely awful design-wise gets painfully overcrowded in the mornings and evenings. With 7,000 new homes being built beside it over the next 15 years, an alternative route into Stratford – and the major employers and institutions popping up around Stratford International – will be essential. With the go-ahead given for a new, much bigger ticket hall and concourse, could some room be found for a deep-level DLR station?
The extension would continue north below Leyton High Road to a new Francis Road station, an entrance to which could possibly be built in the industrial building opposite Walnut Tree House (believed to be Leyton’s oldest building) on Jesse Road.
Now, calling it ‘Francis Road’ – after Leyton’s semi-famous street of independent shops – could well be perceived as pandering to gentrification. ‘Leyton Grange’ – the much bigger area the other side of the High Road, which isn’t really near a station – is perhaps better. There are, however, already two stations with ‘Leyton’ in already. So ‘Francis Road’ it is.
The disgrace that is The Bakers Arms’ current facade. Credit: Google Maps
The line would travel past (well, beneath) the old Leyton County Cricket Ground and Leyton Midland Road station en route to The Bakers Arms and Lea Bridge Road. Paddy Power would be unceremoniously and deservedly booted out of The Bakers Arms itself, with the former pub turned into a beautiful heritage-style DLR terminus serving an area crying out for a rail link. Nice.
Branch two: Stratford International to Leytonstone High Road
The second branch would head north-east from Stratford International to another bookmaker-occupied former public house: Thatched House. This part of south Leytonstone, next to sprawling Cann Hall and on the border with Stratford, could really do with its own station. The not-actually-thatched house, a well-known landmark, is in the perfect spot.
Curving northwards up Leytonstone High Road, the extension would continue for a further mile to… Leytonstone High Road (as in, the Overground station). Now, this is a space with aspirations of becoming a gateway to Leytonstone town centre, but with empty railway arches, a serious fly-tipping problem and facing the neglected, unloved and downright ugly Paul Shekleton House – surely east London’s worst new-build block of flats – it’s currently a million miles from where it wants to be.
Plenty of room for a DLR station here. The empty, unloved entrance to Leytonstone High Road station
Giving over a couple of the arches to a bigger, dual-line station, and another couple to independent shops/venues to accompany the already excellent Mammoth Tap, would restore the site to a proper community hub (I use the word ‘restore’ deliberately; just look at what it was like here a century ago). And, with a direct link to Stratford, it would take a fair amount of pressure off Leytonstone Underground station up the road. Everyone wins.
Right, time for me to calm down a bit.