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Pudding Mill Lane
Pudding Mill lane entrance
Pudding Mill LaneLocation of Pudding Mill Lane in Greater London
Location	Stratford
Local authority	London Borough of Newham
Managed by	Docklands Light Railway
Owner	Transport for London
Number of platforms	2
Accessible	Yes
Fare zone	2 and 3
DLR annual boardings and alightings
2019	0.856 million
2020	0.619 million
2021	0.615 million
2022	2.640 million
2023	2.310 million
Key dates
15 January 1996	Opened
18 April 2014	Original station closed permanently
28 April 2014	Re-sited station opened
Other information
Coordinates	51°32′03″N 0°00′50″W / 51.5341°N 0.0138°W / 51.5341; -0.0138
London transport portal

Pudding Mill Lane is a Docklands Light Railway (DLR) station in Stratford in London, England. It opened in 1996 on the road of the same name, once a light industrial area in Stratford, now being redeveloped into housing development called Pudding Mill Lane. It is next to the Olympic Park; however, it was closed for the duration of the 2012 Olympic Games and reopened on 12 September 2012. The original island platform station was permanently closed on 18 April 2014 in order to allow for the construction of a ramp from the new Crossrail portal nearby. A new, larger station built a short distance to the south opened on 28 April 2014.

The station is located on the DLR's Stratford to Poplar branch, between the Bow Church and Stratford stations and is on the boundary between Travelcard Zone 2 and Zone 3. Trains also run to Lewisham in the morning peaks.

History

Original station

The plans for the DLR to Stratford included an option for a station at Pudding Mill Lane. Funding was not available to build the station, but the location was one of two places safeguarded for future development, the other being Langdon Park.

Pudding Mill Lane was opened on 15 January 1996. Previously this location had been a simple passing point for trains on the otherwise single-tracked section between Stratford and Bow Church.

The name of the station is taken from the nearby Pudding Mill Lane which, in turn, takes its name from the former Pudding Mill River, a minor tributary of the River Lea. This is believed to have taken its name from St. Thomas's Mill, a local water mill shaped like a pudding and commonly known as Pudding Mill. The area had also been called Knob Hill up until the 1890s.

When all the other platforms on the DLR's Stratford branch were extended to accommodate three-car trains, Pudding Mill Lane remained with a two-car platform, instead using selective door operation. The lack of platform extensions in this case was due to the pending rebuild of the station.

During the 2012 Olympic Games, Pudding Mill Lane station was temporarily closed for safety reasons as, while ideally situated to serve the Olympic site, it was far too small to cope with the probable passenger numbers.

The original station closed after the last train departed at 00:47 on 17/18 April 2014, and its replacement opened on 28 April.

New station

Crossrail has a tunnel portal to the east of the original Pudding Mill Lane site. The ramp from the portal to track level at Stratford station passes directly through the original Pudding Mill lane station site, thus required a replacement station to be built on a new viaduct nearby. The original station was demolished to make way for the new ramp, funded as part of the Crossrail project. This work also permitted the upgrade of the only significant stretch of single track left on the DLR to be doubled.

In July 2011, Newham Council's Strategic Development Committee approved plans by architect Weston Williamson for the new station. Sited just to the south of the old station, between the River Lea and City Mill River, it was built with a higher capacity to cope for new developments in the area. It has three-car platforms, better pedestrian links and access to buses, improved step-free access, and provision for escalators.

The station was flooded after torrential rain on 25 July 2021.

In May 2022, the station became the principal point of arrival for concert goers at the ABBA Arena, constructed across the road. An ABBA Voyage merchandise shop was subsequently opened in the station entrance.

Services

The typical off-peak service in trains per hour from Pudding Mill Lane is:

• 12 tph to Stratford
• 12 tph to Canary Wharf

Additional services call at the station during the peak hours, increasing the service to up to 16 tph in each direction, with up to 8 tph during the peak hours extended beyond Canary Wharf to and from Lewisham.

Preceding station		DLR		Following station
Bow Church towards Lewisham		Docklands Light Railway		Stratford Terminus

References

1. "Step free Tube Guide" (PDF). Transport for London. April 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on 15 May 2021.
2. "Station Usage Data" (XLSX). Usage Statistics for London Stations, 2019. Transport for London. 23 September 2020. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
3. "Station Usage Data" (XLSX). Usage Statistics for London Stations, 2020. Transport for London. 16 April 2021. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
4. "Station Usage Data" (XLSX). Usage Statistics for London Stations, 2021. Transport for London. 12 July 2022. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
5. "Station Usage Data" (XLSX). Usage Statistics for London Stations, 2022. Transport for London. 4 October 2023. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
6. "Station Usage Data" (XLSX). Usage Statistics for London Stations, 2023. Transport for London. 8 August 2024. Retrieved 16 September 2024.
7. Mansfield, Ian (16 April 2014). "Last chance to use Pudding Mill Lane DLR station before it closes". IanVisits. Retrieved 18 April 2014.
8. The DLR Story, London Docklands Development Corporation.
9. British History Online: Ancient Mills.
10. Hidden London: Pudding Mill Lane.
11. "Docklands Light Railway, a success story that spans a generation". Rail.co. 1 February 2011. Archived from the original on 20 March 2012. Retrieved 25 July 2011.
12. "DLR and the Olympics". Transport for London. n.d. Archived from the original on 22 March 2012. Retrieved 11 March 2012.
13. "Work gears up to deliver a bigger and better Pudding Mill Lane station after Easter". Transport for London. 15 April 2014. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
14. "New DLR station opens at Pudding Mill Lane". Transport for London. 28 April 2014. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
15. Mansfield, Ian (16 April 2014). "Last chance to use Pudding Mill Lane DLR station before it closes". IanVisits. Retrieved 18 April 2014.
16. Pudding Mill Lane Portal. Crossrail.
17. ^ "Replacement DLR station at Pudding Mill Lane approved". European Railway Review. 25 July 2011.
18. Broadbent, Giles (4 May 2011). "DLR sizes up network expansion". The Wharf. London.
19. Morgan Sindall site briefing on 29-08-13
20. "Crossrail issues contract notice for final tunnel portal". Rail. Peterborough. 10 August 2011. p. 17.
21. "London floods: Hospitals and DLR station hit as streets turn to rivers". 26 July 2021.
22. "ABBA Voyage Arena - 2022 ABBA Concert Venue".
23. "DLR train timetables". Transport for London. Retrieved 15 August 2023.

External links

• Docklands Light Railway website - Pudding Mill Lane station page
• Weston Williamson Architects website - Proposed replacement for Pudding Mill Lane DLR station

• Rail transport stations in London fare zone 2
• Rail transport stations in London fare zone 3
• Docklands Light Railway stations in the London Borough of Newham
• Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1996
• Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park
• Stratford, London