A Snowy Day At Stratford Station (London) in 1991

A visit to Stratford Station in February 1991 on a snowy day.
We see a single unit DLR train, British Railways classes 312, 315, 321 trains in Network SouthEast livery and 1962 Tube stock on the Central Line.
We also see the station as it was in 1991, which was well before the Jubilee Line extension was built.

[@BritishBoy1971]

It's amazing what we take for granted. Without this magnificent infrastructure, all the hard work done by thousands of people, to firstly construct/build/manufacture the trains, stations and railway lines, then run them, the people of this World wouldn't be going anywhere. It's commendable!!

[@drummondharwood613]

The amount of change since then... totally different world.

[@chalkfarmcarsquadso1664]

Yes no Tfl or KHAN

[@jimsimpson1006]

People just walking about without staring intently at small rectangular objects in their hands or shouting into them. No CCTV watching your every move wherever you go. Life now is like living in a fishbowl. Take me back to 1991 any day.

[@tonyjones9442]

Jim Simpson better dance music in the 99's too.

[@jerribee1]

It's even more nostalgic watching this in 2020.

[@CitytransportInfoplus]

yes, and it shows the DLR using platform 4 plus other views showing Stratford before it was rebuilt for the Jubilee line.

[@ajs41]

@@CitytransportInfoplus I didn't know that platform was used for other trains before the Jubilee Line.

[@AbstractMan23]

Great video! Amazing how few people were around then. Compare that with the Stratford of today... I avoid the station now, as much as possible to avoid the crowds.

[@BrianTuckerRailvideos]

Excellent Videos especially the captions and your observation of the running of the station is great,thanks for sharing

[@CitytransportInfoplus]

Brian Tucker thanks :-)

[@LewisCollard]

Lots of nostalgia for me. Thank you!

[@West.Ham1964]

Fascinating look at how Stratford used to be. I use that station everyday and so much has changed, also the skyline but I noticed the lack of public service announcements. Now we are deluged with useless info from the tannoy and even with a drop of rain that is cranked up higher, don't run, take extra care, wrap yourself in bubble wrap so you can imagine the h&s announcements if we had this level of snow but back then not a single word. And rightly so, people aren't stupid.

[@CitytransportInfoplus]

+Tony Ross On the day I filmed that the service was truly up the creek and the normal automated announcements (which did exist in those days) were replaced by manual announcements.

[@AlexMetroman]

Once a again simon, a very interesting and detailed video showing London Transport. It is lovely to see NSE and old tube stock, and the intercity swallow trains and the snow plough. You have recorded rare events and its very interesting for and many others to see this footage. Well done simon, im looking forward to the next heritage footage you bring out :)

[@collieultimo]

A view back in time, only 20 years but very interesting. Thank you for this good overview of locations and activities.

[@f.m.m6706]

About to be 30 years now, wow how time flies

[@IndigoJo]

The loco pulling the InterCity train to Norwich would definitely have been a class 86 - I used that service regularly and they were always that class. There were also class 312 stoppers (and later class 321) that ran from London to Ipswich, usually calling at Stratford, Shenfield, Chelmsford, Colchester and Manningtree. Class 312 trains were awfully noisy, very unlike the slam-door trains on Southern Region that I was used to.

[@CitytransportInfoplus]

I liked the Class 312 trains because it was possible to sit behind the driver and enjoy a driver's eye view. Despite them only running hourly I frequently travelled on these between Ilford (where I lived) and Liverpool Street - I would plan my journey around catching these trains as the journey was non-stop (even missing out Stratford!) and it took about 11 minutes (1 minute longer for trains towards London).

[@AnnLiOz]

Interesting and nostalgic vid. Thanks for posting.

[@user-do2rj4sf8j]

Never knew the class 315 used to have funny sounding door alarms like the 321.

[@HitchinTrains]

Interesting footage as usual, good to see Stratford before all this olympics malarkey!

[@CitytransportInfoplus]

I used to pass through every day when going to school in the 1970's and still do when travelling to Central London!

[@w00df0rd]

Thanks!

[@kenwilson4175]

Wow! This brings me back. Ken

[@atent5124]

I use to go to london as a year 8 student in 2018. I can just barely recognise it. The central line up and down slope was for sure. All the platforms have been separated. I wonder what startford was like before the iconic Jubilee line. The original chime at Stratford is something that happens not anymore. I love it so much I have recorded that part of the video. Is that ok?

[@CitytransportInfoplus]

Yes, this station has changed very significantly - although the Central line tracks remain where they were before! I have some photos at Stratford on one of the pages on my 'Railfanning London's Railways' website - one of these photos shows a comparison of where the DLR to Canning Town platforms are located and the same location in the 1980's. Also visible is part of the land that is now the Jubilee line. (scroll down this webpage - Stratford is near the bottom) citytransport.info/Busy.htm

[@jack253]

Great video. Its mad how different Stratford had changed over the 11 years. With the 315s still going past Stratford on the Shenfield line. While the 1992 Stock is on the Central Line. Some great history here.

[@NovioSites]

Very nice video! Those trains still being in service did have a much nicer livery back then.

[@noggin48]

Those were the days, when real trains were still running about, unlike the plastic bins of today! LIKE 5* =D

[@CitytransportInfoplus]

@CeTrains Thanks, I'm glad you liked my film. Simon

[@Richardsrailway]

another trip down memory lane for me being firstly a local resident at the time , grew up around stratford station back in the mid seventies, my great uncle was a draughtsmen in stratford works, then joining the railway in 93' this was my patch as far as maintenence was concerned, i remember the stratford 'new town ' buildings and the island platform where the signal box was, also the freightliner terminal, temple mills being a busy place back then when class 37 and 08's were a plenty

[@DeadlyAviator]

It's so strange seeing this, I never went to the station until it was refurbished, so this is like looking into a dream or parallel dimension to me!

[@markcf83]

That month was beyond evil. I remember it all too well and not for the better either. Incidentally I spent the following day in East London and froze badly.

[@CitytransportInfoplus]

I am sorry to hear about you freezing, it was indeed an extremely cold month and I recall someone I knew who lived in Basildon, Essex trying to walk home and ending up in hospital with severe hypothermia. Also, part of the Essex seaside town of Southend-On-Sea was cut off by deep snow blocking roads with local shops (unable to get supplies) having to ration food.

[@Great_WesternTVFan]

About the Ilford line of fairlop loop, was the Woodford to Ilford via Newbury park Shuttle was operated by the Central line?

[@CitytransportInfoplus]

I have never heard of this shuttle service. I doubt it ever existed. Do you mean the Woodford - Hainault shuttle? This was part of the Central Line and may yet return.

[@Great_WesternTVFan]

citytransportinfo then I'm wrong. I mean, Woodford to Ilford or Woodford to fenchurch street via Newbury park and Ilford. Which platform did the central line had in Ilford?

[@Mr223P]

Yea that was a little bar on platform 8, used to get a pint of Websters bitter in there in the way home from work on the odd occasion! :)

[@CitytransportInfoplus]

+Mr223P I was too young to be allowed in there, but even from the outside it was possible to smell the beer and cigarettes. Different world today!

[@Mr223P]

+citytransportinfo yes soo different. This would have been the early 80's when I had not long started work in the city and I used to get the overhead to Stratford, have a beer before getting on the central line home for the rest of the journey. If you were lucky you might get a big long freight clanking through with a couple of rusty knackered 37's heading it to watch out the window, Happy days... :)

[@harryelliott4310]

Central Line 1962 Tube Stock

[@waleedarif9327]

Slightly less crime in those days.

[@THE_COCKNEY_COCONUT]

Probably due to smaller population I'd say.

[@CitytransportInfoplus]

thanks :-)

[@CitytransportInfoplus]

@stumpysteven73 you make it sound like a type of train! in those days most BR services in London and south-east England were operated by Network SouthEast, which was part of BR. This was filmed several years before railway privatisation.

[@VanlifewithAlan]

In those days, snow in London was a rarity. In fact I can only recall it once in the 1980s and once in the 1990s (although I was not there all the time). The last three years have been different!

[@metadyneman]

Always amazed me how the SRwer still building the Mk1 based 4-VEP as a high density suburban train at the same time they building the Mk2 bodyshell designed 312 & 310s. Now I wonder what a MK2 bodied 4-VEP might have looked like!

[@veolia215]

Nice to see the class 315's in network southeast livery to think it is very likely that the class 315's displaced by crossrail will be refurbished and rebuilt for use on the Cardiff Valley lines once the valleys are wired.in 2020

[@bwarrrrk]

smart looking 315s unlike now :( another nice video and im after those snowploughs in oo gauge lol

[@66CLASS]

fan tastic video 10/10 good old days you cant bring them back thats a shame youst to go spotting at stratford st .

[@MrGriser]

At 5:15 was that the 315 with that high pitched LUL style whistle?

[@stumpysteven73]

@citytransportinfo Well i am just as enthusatic about trains as you are lol! Wasn't sure if trains were owned by Network South East from Stratford. I know they were owned by them out of London Charing Cross down to Hastings,Brighton etc but wasn't sure from London down to Essex way and up north.

[@ajs41]

Does anyone know when two carriage trains started running on the DLR? I guess it might have been in 1994 when the Beckton extension opened.

[@CitytransportInfoplus]

possibly, I am not sure.

[@ajs41]

@@CitytransportInfoplus I can probably find out by looking at various videos of the DLR from different years.

[@businessbuilding1]

Thoroughly enjoyed this! Brought back many memories when I visited London. We used to take the train from Manor Park to Stratford and then Central line onwards. Did the Central Line ever use 1938 stock?

[@oludotunjohnshowemimo434]

businessbuilding1 2 1962 stock still work either side of the Central Line as rail adhesion traina

[@stumpysteven73]

That looked like a Network South East leaving Stratford at start of video. Was I right?

[@Foxybill05]

How come the tube trains are grey??

[@CitytransportInfoplus]

1962 tube stock was unpainted aluminium.

[@roddale8412]

Is it still possible to photograph trains in this way today? Wouldn't you risk being investigated by police or CSOs? I know everyone has a camera phone these days. But standing on a platform for several minutes obviously filming transport infrastructure - I think many a modern jobsworth would intervene.

[@CitytransportInfoplus]

yes its possible, and at Stratford its quite common to see transport enthusiasts, not just with cameras but also with notebooks trying to see every engine of a particular type, etc. Especially if using a camera its best to avoid the rush hours and stand at less busy locations, such as the western (Liverpool Street) end of platforms 8 / 9 / 10. Also, note that Stratford is high on the list of stations where pickpockets operate. Regarding this film, since it was made the platforms have been re-jigged and the station rebuilt. The locomotive with the snowploughs is on what nowadays is the track for platform 9 and the track to its immediate right no longer exists. I filmed this from platform 6/8, which (to take advantage of the track that no longer exists) has now been widened at this location. Also, nowadays there is a platform exit (to a new passageway) at the eastern end of this platform. This makes filming at this location somewhat awkward, as nowadays people are always walking towards this end of the platform.

[@roddale8412]

I'm glad to hear that it's still possible to photograph trains in this detailed way without interference from the authorities. People you like have done a great service recording & documenting day to day life on the railways. Thanks to enthusiasts like you, future generations will have a more complete picture of life in this era.

[@lfewell2161]

Your probably right, but anyone up to no good would surely use a satellite view and see so much more than you could on the ground.

[@Naomiandrew938]

Hi people form the past

[@abhijaydevsahatheprogamers266]

There was not a TfL•Rail or Elizabeth Line yet since 1991?

[@CitytransportInfoplus]

In 1991 there was British Railways - Network SouthEast.

[@billwilliam1565]

I suppose the station staff were locked in their cozy offices, heat turned up and drinking tea instead of shoveling the snow and ice off of the platforms?

[@CitytransportInfoplus]

Whilst there was some gritting of the snow and in some places it was even swept away, in those days it was seen as acceptable for snow to be on the platforms. Passengers were expected to be as careful as they had been when walking to the station.

[@Rocktecho]

Thos class 315 trains look a lot like the SW trains class 455s

[@tobysummers471]

Rocktecho built to a similar design. However the fronts are different and the cars do not bear a resemblance to the 455s however the 455/7 subclass borrowed a non driving trailer from old class 508 units which are essentially the dc only version of the 315s and the 313s

[@abhijaydevsahatheprogamers266]

Is the TfL•Rail Built yet?

[@CitytransportInfoplus]

What was known as TfL Rail is now the Elizabeth line, and it is all open / carrying passengers although for now trains are operating in several segments

[@glitch4465]

Is it pronounced GID-ea Park or Gid-EYA Park?

[@arzn253]

zack918 Loool

[@martinjh999]

Is this the Stratford High Speed Station now?

[@CitytransportInfoplus]

no, that is at the other end of the Westfield shopping centre - near the DLR's International station. The track layout has been changed since I filmed this, although the Central Line tunnels are in exactly the same locations. In those days next to platform 8 there were two tracks for non-stop trains that did not have platforms. Then there were two more tracks which did have platforms, these were 9 and 10. Nowadays platform 9 has become an island platform with tracks on both sides (9 and 10) whilst the former platform 10 is now 10a. Also, one of the non-stop tracks has been removed, this made it possible for the eastern end of platform 8 to be realigned and widened.

[@martinjh999]

AH ok cool :) Don't know much about London stations being that I live in Lancashire :)

[@manlikeskllz]

indeed very old

[@CitytransportInfoplus]

smile ... I understand what you mean but age is relative. I know some people who still remember steam trains serving this station - and travelling on the routes that were taken over by Central line tube trains

[@tantaf123]

where is the jubilee line?!

[@CitytransportInfoplus]

Downstairs - on a north-south alignment alongside the tracks used by DLR trains between Stratford International and Woolwich Arsenal.

[@tantaf123]

Did it use 1996 stock 6 cars

[@maritimeterminal-n-sw7264]

@@tantaf123 Jubilee line to Stratford was not even built when this video was made, nor were the 96 stock built - its 1991

[@tantaf123]

HUH?!

[@ajs41]

@@tantaf123 The Jubilee Line didn't reach Stratford until 1999.

[@CitytransportInfoplus]

@sexygirl1678 but not all of them are in the same places!!! LOL

[@easygo1477]

I bet times were more simpler back in 1991 where you didn’t have defensive people accusing you of filming then when you’re just filming trains, no CCTV cameras out there to watch where you go and that malarkey. Times have most certainly changed within 3 decades

[@ajs41]

True. We got our video camera in 1992 and you could film almost anything in public and no-one would ever complain. In fact, often they'd actually want to be on the camera and they were always in a happy mood when they did.

[@CitytransportInfoplus]

Once I put some black insulating tape over the red LED light which illuminated when I was filming it often seemed that I was invisible. Very very few people commented - except for a lady who a few years later became a sister-in-law and platform staff at some London Underground stations (especially Highbury & Islington and Mansion House) which was a shame.

[@easygo1477]

@@ajs41 I wish I could’ve been alive during the 1990s I bet that was pretty much heaven

[@bloke33]

Humans announcing trains, instead of that droney recorded women with a speech impediment! Those were the days.

[@danielstewart6603]

Stratford is the is complete opposite todat

[@CitytransportInfoplus]

I would never have believed it back then - as you say, its a different world.

[@scopex2749]

Nice video - we will NEVER see snow like that again the UK thanks to Global Warming!!!!

[@CitytransportInfoplus]

I think we could and might - because climate change includes a degree of variability and in the winter we sometimes get arctic plunges of could air reach the south of England ... if this were happen at the same time as much rain bearing cloud we could well have heavy snow storms