"Canning Town is the child of the Victoria Docks. The condition of this place and of its neighbour prevents the steadier class of mechanics from residing in it. They go from their work to Stratford or to Plaistow. Many select such a dwelling place because they are already debased below the point of enmity to filth; poorer labourers live there, because they cannot afford to go farther, and there become debased. The Dock Company is surely, to a very great extent, answerable for the condition of the town they are creating" - Charles Dickens. The first station, originally named Barking Road, was opened on 14 June 1847 by the Eastern Counties and Thames Junction Railway on the south side of Barking Road in the Parish of West Ham. It was renamed Canning Town on 1 July 1873, and in 1888 this station was closed, being replaced by a new station on the north side of Barking Road (near Stephenson Street). On 29 October 1995, a new North London Line station on the current site was opened. Original DLR plans were that the Beckton line would run directly east/west between Blackwall and Royal Victoria, and the substantial loop to serve Canning Town was a late design change. The DLR station opened on 28 March 1994, but was closed between 6 June 1996 and 5 March 1998 for the construction of the Jubilee line extension. The Jubilee line station opened on 14 May 1999.
The interchange is above ground, but access is by an underground concourse stretching the width of the site and connected to all platforms and the bus station by escalators, stairs and lifts. To the west of the complex two island platforms are one above the other. The lower platform is served by the Jubilee line (1 platform two faces) and the higher the DLR. To the east of the Jubilee platforms on the same level one platform (two faces) is served by the DLR (these were served by the North London Line until 9 December 2006 and reopened for DLR on 31 August 2011). Despite being a neighbour to many Dockland developments, Canning Town remains among the 5 per cent most deprived areas in the UK with local people suffering from poor health, low education and poverty. On the station is a plaque commemorating the Thames Iron Works, which stood on this site. The station has cash machines, Euro cash machines, payphones, wi-fi, escalators and lifts.
Connections: DLR Upper + Lower. London bus routes 5, 69, 115, 147, 241, 300, 309, 323, 330 and 474 and night routes N15, N550 and N551 serve the station.
