King George V

King George V station stands on Pier Road in North Woolwich, a quiet corner of East London where the Thames curves eastward. The Docklands Light Railway line here replaced an older station and takes its name from the nearby King George V Dock. Trains announce the stop as ‘King George the Fifth’, the only form used in speech. It sits in fare zone three, a short walk from the Woolwich Ferry that crosses the river. The station opened in December 2005 to serve a new branch of the DLR. The line once ended here until January 2009, when a tunnel beneath the Thames extended services to Woolwich Arsenal. Trains now run every few minutes, with twelve each hour heading south to Woolwich Arsenal and six each to Stratford International and Bank. During peak hours the service rises to sixteen per hour in each direction. In January 2021 a serious incident injured a woman at the platform. The surroundings are light industrial and residential, with dockside buildings nearby. From the station entrance Pier Road leads straight to the riverbank and the ferry terminal. The view across the water shows the Royal Arsenal’s brick chimneys and the Thames Barrier in the distance. It is a place where commuters and occasional visitors pass through, yet the river and dock give it a calm edge.