Hackney Wick railway station

Hackney Wick
Hackney Wick Location of Hackney Wick in Greater London
Location	Hackney Wick
Local authority	London Borough of Hackney
Managed by	London Overground
Owner	Network Rail
Station code	HKW
DfT category	E
Number of platforms	2
Accessible	Yes [1]
Fare zone	2
National Rail annual entry and exit
2010–11	0.567 million[2]
2011–12	0.973 million[2]
2012–13	1.307 million[2]
2013–14	1.517 million[2]
2014–15	1.674 million[2]
Key dates
1980	Opened
Other information
Lists of stations	DLR Underground National Rail Tramlink
External links	Departures Layout Facilities Buses
WGS84	51°32′36″N 0°01′28″W / 51.543417°N 0.024389°WCoordinates: 51°32′36″N 0°01′28″W / 51.543417°N 0.024389°W
London Transport portal UK Railways portal

Hackney Wick railway station is on the North London Line in the London Borough of Hackney, on the northern side of the boundary between Hackney and the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, in east London. It is in Travelcard Zone 2. The station and all trains serving it are operated by London Overground. It opened on 12 May 1980^[3] by British Rail on the re-routed line which bypassed the site of the former Victoria Park station as part of the CrossTown Link line between North Woolwich and Camden Road stations.

On 29 December 1985, the station was the scene of one of the murders of the serial rapists John Duffy and David Mulcahy.

Service

As part of the programme to introduce four-car trains on the London Overground network, the North London Line between Gospel Oak and Stratford closed in February 2010; reopening 1 June 2010. This was to enable the installation of a new signalling system and the extension of 30 platforms. Engineering work continued to June 2011, during which reduced services operated and Sunday services were suspended.^[4]

The typical service at the station is 4 trains per hour westbound to Richmond via Hackney, Highbury, Camden Road and Willesden, 2 trains per hour to Clapham Junction, and 6 trains per hour eastbound to Stratford.^[5]

Until 9 December 2006, when the line from Stratford to North Woolwich was closed to be converted to a Docklands Light Railway line, the eastbound service ran to North Woolwich.

2012 Olympics

Hackney Wick station was a key transport point for the 2012 Summer Olympics as it is situated 100m from the western periphery of the Olympic Park. However, due to potential overcrowding, TfL announced that westbound trains would not stop at this station for the duration of the Games.^[6]

Hackney Wick is one of four stations located around the park, along with Stratford station, Stratford International and Pudding Mill Lane DLR station.

Services

Hackney Wick currently has the following London Overground (North London Line) services, which is operated by Class 378 trainsets.

Off-peak:

• 6tph to Stratford
• 4tph to Richmond
• 2tph to Clapham Junction

Connections

London Buses route 276 serves the station.

First 'Railway Murder'

The station is near the scene of the first railway murder. The victim, Thomas Briggs of 5 Clapton Square, was returning from dining with his niece in Peckham in July 1864 and, aged 69, had the misfortune to meet his murderer on the train.^[7]

Two clerks discovered a compartment sticky with blood at Hackney, but Franz Muller had slipped away unnoticed to return to his lodgings at 16 Park Terrace. The victim was discovered on the line between Bow and Hackney Wick and was brought initially into the Mitford Castle public house (now the Top o' the Morning) in Cadogan Terrace and subsequently taken home, where he died. A hat belonging to Muller was discovered in the compartment.^[8]

In the next few days, a Cheapside jeweller came forward with Briggs's missing watch and chain, and a description of Muller. The theft was to pay for Muller's emigration to America, and he departed soon after on the Victoria, but the police went to New York by a faster boat and were awaiting his arrival in New York. He was returned to England, tried, convicted, and hanged at Newgate Prison.

References

1. "London and South East" (PDF). National Rail Enquiries. National Rail. September 2006. Archived from the original (pdf) on 6 March 2009.
2. "Station usage estimates". Rail statistics. Office of Rail Regulation. Please note: Some methodology may vary year on year.
3. Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. p. 111. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508.
4. "London Overground to close from Gospel Oak to Stratford as part of £326m upgrade to deliver longer, more frequent trains". TfL. 18 December 2009. Retrieved 8 March 2010.
5. London Overground timetable from 22 May
6. "Hackney Wick". Get Ahead of the Games. Transport for London. Retrieved 24 July 2012.
7. "Francis Muller, the Murderer, from London". Harper's Weekly. VIII (402). New York. 10 September 1864. Retrieved 1 December 2007.
8. Old Bailey Proceedings Online (www.oldbaileyonline.org, version 7.0, 27 February 2013), October 1864, trial of FRANZ MULLER (23) (t18641024-920).

External links

• Excel file displaying National Rail station usage information for 2005/06

• Train times and station information for Hackney Wick railway station from National Rail
• North London Line by Dave Bosher
• Biography of serial killers John Duffy and David Mulcahy