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Greenwich station

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Greenwich railway station is about 400 m southwest of the town centre of Greenwich, London, England. It is an interchange between National Rail trains between central London and Dartford (north Kent), and the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) between Lewisham to the south and the Docklands area and the City of London north of the River Thames. It is in Travelcard Zones 2 and 3.

Whilst Greenwich is the nearest National Rail station to the centre of Greenwich, Cutty Sark DLR station is more conveniently situated for the town centre, the National Maritime Museum, the former Greenwich Hospital, the covered market, and other tourist attractions.

East of the station, the Dartford line goes through a tunnel underneath the the National Maritime Museum, towards Maze Hill. Northwards, the DLR goes into a tunnel through Cutty Sark station and under the River Thames to emerge on the Isle of Dogs; in the opposite direction, it rises on a concrete viaduct to follow the River Ravensbourne upstream to Deptford Bridge and Lewisham.

Greenwich Station is 5.5 miles from Charing Cross - the milepost is on platform 1.

History

Although the DLR is a recent addition, the National Rail line through Greenwich station is one of London's oldest - the London and Greenwich Railway is reputed to be the world's first suburban railway. It was designed by former army engineer George Landmann, and promoted by entrepreneur George Walter. Greenwich was linked by a massive brick-built railway viaduct with 878 arches, first to a station in Spa Road (Bermondsey), and later to London Bridge. The service opened on 8 February 1836 from Deptford, and on 29 December that year from Greenwich. Greenwich's handsome station building was designed by George Smith in 1840, making it one of the oldest station buildings in the world.

Difficulties in extending the railway over the lands owned by the Greenwich Hospital led to the station being bypassed for many years. Eventually the line was extended eastwards in a covered way towards Maze Hill.

External links

{| class="wikitable" style="margin: 0.5em auto; text-align: center; clear: both;" |- ! Preceding station ! colspan="3" | Underground Lines ! Following station

|- style="text-align: center;" | Deptford Bridge | style="background:#008887;" |   | Docklands Light Railway | style="background:#008887;" |   | Cutty Sark |- ! colspan="5" | National Rail

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