Always known as 'Poplar East India Road' it
was for many years the terminus for passenger trains from Broad Street. Opened on 1st
August 1866, it was served for the majority of it's years by four trains an hour, to and
from the City. It was located on the South side of the main road, a neat single storey
booking hall with two stairways leading down to the platforms. At track level, the lines
continued through the station until reaching the bridge carrying Poplar High Street, where
they diverged. One of the routes headed south-west towards the goods yard at Harrow Lane,
whilst the other continued south-east towards Blackwall. Originally this line was taken to
Blackwall for goods traffic only, but a passenger service was introduced in 1870. When
patronage dropped off this service was finally stopped in 1890.
Poplar East India Road suffered badly during the Second World War, and reputedly became
the most bombed passenger station in Britain. In May of 1941, Poplar Central signal box,
which stood at the southern end of the platforms, was almost totally destroyed when a
land-mine exploded on top of one of the railway retaining walls nearby. However, in less
than two weeks, in not so ideal conditions, it was re-built almost like for like and put
back into commission.
During the war years the service between Dalston and Poplar was constantly disrupted,
until it was finally suspended from May 15th 1944. A month later, the first flying bomb to
land on any LMS property exploded on the west side of the cutting, behind the platform,
and damaged the station beyond repair. Most of the station was demolished in 1947 along
with many other stations along the route. All that remained were the two platforms and the
lower booking hall. These remained unchanged until they were removed in 1985 to
provide a site for the new DLR station, All Saints, which was opened in 1987. |
