Bow Road tube station

Bow Road is a London Underground station on Bow Road in the Bow area of Tower Hamlets, East London. It stands between Mile End to the west and Bromley-by-Bow to the east on the District and Hammersmith & City lines. The station opened in 1902 on a new route linking the District Railway at Whitechapel with the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway. Electric trains replaced steam in 1905 and Metropolitan line services began in 1936. It lies in London fare zone 2. The station has an important place in railway history. An 1883 plan to join the Metropolitan Railway with the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway failed, but the idea returned in 1897 with the District Railway as partner. The Whitechapel and Bow Railway opened in 1902, though Bow Road station opened late with temporary buildings. Permanent structures were designed by engineer Cuthbert Arthur Brereton and the station was Grade II listed in 1973. Inside, two curved side platforms serve westbound and eastbound trains. The open-air section has canopies on wall brackets and the underground part has jack-arched roofs on hexagonal columns. The exterior shows brown glazed bricks below window sills and red brick above, with terracotta window and door surrounds. A former waiting room with a bay window looks onto the westbound platform. East of the station the tracks rise on a 1 in 40 gradient toward Bromley-by-Bow.