Broad Street - Dalston BR

BROAD STREET - DALSTON

Opened to passengers 1.11.1865
Opened to goods ?.5.1868
Closed 30.6.1986.

Stations
- Dalston Junction
- Haggerston (opened 1867, closed 1940)
- Shoreditch (closed 1940)
- Broad Street (closed 1986)

History
Incorporpated in 1846 the nominally independent East & West India Docks & Birmingham Junction Railway was heavily backed by the LNWR. In 1853 it changed its name to the North London Railway (NLR) and although managed by the LNWR from 1909 remained independent until the grouping. Its original line ran from Camden Town to Poplar but in 1865 it opened a branch directly into the city off its main line at Dalston Junction. Traffic handled by the new Broad Street station grew at a phenomenal rate and the line was quadrupled by 1874; eventually the terminus had nine platforms. The last train to use the line was the 18.36 Broad Street - Watford Junction on Friday 27 June 1986.
The East London Line extension northward from Shoreditch, opened in 2010, uses much of the alignment.

Route - when originally open
It diverged from the Camden Town to Poplar line at Dalston Western Junction (GR333850) and curved south to Dalston Junction where the line fron Dalston Eastern Junction trailed in from the east, thus forming a triangular junction. From Dalston Junction station (which had platforms on both curves) the line headed south alongside Kingsland Road, passing Haggerston station and bridging the Regent's Canal. One mile from Dalston Junction it turned SW to bridge Kingsland Road and Old Street the location of Shoreditch station, then continued south bridging Great Eastern Street on the approach to Broad Street station (GR331817) with lines into Liverpool Street station on the east side but at a lower level.

Route - today
The viaduct south from Dalston Junction is intact and has been adapted for use by the East London Line extension. The viaduct ends at New Inn Yard where the East London Line route curves away eastward. There are also two short stubs on either side of Great Eastern Street; the southern one reaches only as far as Bowl Court. From Bowl Court to Primrose Street there are new office developments. The route south of Primrose Street as far as, and including, Broad Street station is covered by the Broadgate development. About two-thirds of the Dalston East Curve is now a long car park. The other third has been opened to the public as the Eastern Curve Garden.

Relics
- Dalston Junction station. Completely demolished and rebuilt for the East London Line extension
- Haggerston station. The original central platform was demolished in the early 1970s but the southbound one remains intact. The new East London line station at Haggerston was built on the north side of Lee Street; the original was on the south side of it.
- Shoreditch station platforms have been demolished. The station building survives below at street level
- Broad Street demolished - site built over by the Broadgate Office complex.

Bridges - all bridges on the proposed ELL route have been replaced;
bridges over Holywell Lane, Great Eastern Street, Plough Yard, Worship St, Primrose St, are missing;
the viaduct carrying the line is intact between Middleton Road and New Inn Yard. There are small sections remaining between Holywell Lane and Great Eastern St, and between Great Eastern St and Plough Yard.
Tunnels - on west curve under Kingsland High Street 88yds, will be reopened for ELL extension;
on east curve under Dalston Lane 58yds condition unknown.

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Map of Broad Street station showing its close proximity to Liverpool Street station. When Broad Street station closed in 1986, its services were transferred to Liverpool Street station, its close neighbour. Along with Broad St station itself, the short section of line from Broad St to Dalston was also closed.
The line was re-opened as part of the East London line extension.

Broad Street stn is indicated by the yellow shading. The original Bishopsgate (High Level) station is indicated by the red shading - this was utilised as a goods depot after its replacement terminus at Liverpool Street was opened in 1875. Part of it has been retained but the northern section was demolished to make way for the new Shoreditch High Street station on the East London Line extension. The ELL's former Shoreditch station is indicated by the green shading.

For more details on Bishopsgate (High Level) station, see disused-stations.org.uk

Broad Street station looking north in April l984.

Broad Street station in April 1985.

The same view a year later. Much of the station was demolished prior to the official closure date and only one platform remained open at the end.

12/7/1985

The last ever train from Broad Street.

For Nick Catford's site with more photos and details of Broad St station, click here.

Bowl Court: part of the marooned section of viaduct between Great Eastern Street and Worship Street. This section remained intact until 2007, in an area at the edge of the city where new office building has been slowly creeping outwards.

A website detailing the office buildin here and at Bishopsgate High Level (goods) station is here.

(photo: 2003)

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This photo dates from July 2001 and was taken approximately from the location of the bridge over Holywell Lane. The wall across the track is where the bridge over Great Eastern Street used to be. On the other side of Great Eastern Street, the line continued relatively straight until it reached Worship St where it curved right: the new building visible on the right (with the former Nat West Tower behind it), stands over the tracks at Liverpool Street station, so Broad Street station itself would have been to the right of this.

Street level view of the section of viaduct shown in the photo above. This is looking east (so trains approaching Broad St would have run from left to right). Great Eastern Street is on the right of the photo with the truncated viaduct visible between the two buildings (there is an equivalent 'stump' on the other side of the road as well, out of shot). The bridge was removed sometime between 1988 and 1993.

As of Dec 2006, the bridge over Holywell Lane and the viaduct to the left of the pink painted building, had been removed as well, leaving just a short section in the middle. Old tube carriages have been 'parked' on this small remaining section, converted for use as unusual artists studios.

(photo: 2003)

View from the small remaining section of viaduct located behind the pink painted shop in the photo above. This view is of Great Eastern Street looking south-east at the section of viaduct (with the foilage on it) leading to Broad St (there are only a couple of hundred yards left of it now).

(photo: 2007)

2007 view from the same bit of viaduct as the above photo but this time looking north:

1) Points toward the viaduct leading up to Dalson that the East London Line will join
2) Points to the area that the new bridge from the East London Line will be located.

Slightly above/right of the arrowhead for figure 1 is the tower of Shoreditch Town Hall, adjacent to the old Shoreditch (NLR) station, seen also in some of the photos of Shoreditch station below.

Move your cursor over the image to view a 2009 photo of the same area.

Gradient sign visible just before reaching the old Shoreditch station.

(photo: 2001)

Film footage of a cab ride from Dalston Junction to Broad Street is viewable on YouTube.

Part 2.