Stratford station in the context of "Central line (London Underground)"

Stratford City is a mixed-use development project in Stratford, London, England, to the north of Stratford town centre. The main developers are the Westfield Group and Lendlease.

Stratford City is the name given to the urban community centred on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Based on Stratford Regional and Stratford International railway stations, it includes Stratford Cross, a joint venture between Lendlease and London and Continental Railways (LCR) to create a £2 billion commercial and residential development, the Westfield shopping centre, Chobham Academy, and the East Village, previously the athletes' village constructed by Lendlease for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The Elizabeth line is a railway line that runs across Greater London and nearby towns, operating similarly to the RER in Paris and the S-Bahn systems of German-speaking countries. It runs services on dedicated infrastructure in central London from the Great Western Main Line west of Paddington station to Abbey Wood and via Whitechapel to the Great Eastern Main Line near Stratford; along the Great Western Main Line to Reading and Heathrow Airport in the west; and along the Great Eastern Main Line to Shenfield in the east.

Under the project name of Crossrail, the system was approved in 2007, and construction began in 2009. Originally planned to open in 2018, the project was repeatedly delayed, including for several months as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The service is now named after Queen Elizabeth II, who officially opened the line on 17 May 2022 during her Platinum Jubilee year; passenger services started on 24 May 2022.

Stratford International is a National Rail station in Stratford and a separate Docklands Light Railway (DLR) station nearby, located in East Village in London. Despite its name, no international services stop at the station; plans for it to be served by Eurostar trains never came to fruition. However, there are plans to use it as a terminus for Eurostar competitor Gemini Trains from 2029 (see International services). The National Rail platforms are served by Southeastern trains on the High Speed 1 route originating at London St Pancras International (which is served by Eurostar). On the DLR, it is a terminus – one of seven end-of-the-line termini – for local services via Canning Town and London City Airport.

Construction of the National Rail station was completed in 2006, but it only opened in 2009 to serve Southeastern services on HS1. In 2011, an extension of the DLR was opened to connect Stratford International to the wider London public transport network, and to the main Stratford station to the south. The DLR station is physically separate and located just across the road from the HS1 station. Oyster cards and contactless payment cards are valid for travel to and from Stratford International, with the DLR station in London fare zone 2 and 3, but special fares apply at the HS1 station.

Charing Cross (/ˈtʃærɪŋ ˈkrɒs/; sometimes informally abbreviated as Charing +, Charing X, CHX or CH+) is a London Underground station at Charing Cross in the City of Westminster. It is served by the Bakerloo and Northern lines, and provides an interchange with Charing Cross mainline station. On the Bakerloo line, the station is between Piccadilly Circus and Embankment stations. On its branch of the Northern line, it is between Leicester Square and Embankment stations. The station is in London fare zone 1.

Charing Cross was originally two separate stations, known for most of their existence as Trafalgar Square (on the Bakerloo line) and Strand (on the Northern line). The Bakerloo line platforms were opened by the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway in 1906 and the Northern line platforms by the Charing Cross, Euston and Hampstead Railway in 1907. In the 1970s, in preparation for the opening of the Jubilee line, the two earlier stations were connected together with new below ground passageways. When the Jubilee line platforms opened in 1979, the combined station was given the current name. Jubilee line services ended in 1999 when the line was extended to Stratford.

The North London line is a railway line which passes through the inner suburbs of London, England between Richmond in the south-west and Stratford in the east, avoiding central London. Its route is a rough semicircle.

Although much of it originated as part of the North London Railway, the current route is the result of a series of amalgamations, closures and reopenings, and has a mix of third-rail and overhead electrical power supply. It remains heavily used by freight services in addition to the Mildmay line passenger service on the London Overground. Between Richmond and Gunnersbury, London Underground's District line shares tracks with the Mildmay line; the entire route is owned and maintained by Network Rail.

Whitechapel is an interchange station in Whitechapel, East London for London Underground, London Overground and Elizabeth line services. The station is located behind a street market of the same name and opposite Tower Hamlets Town Hall. The station was comprehensively rebuilt in the late 2010s and early 2020s as part of the Crossrail project.

The station lies between Aldgate East and Stepney Green stations on the District and Hammersmith & City lines of the Underground, and between Shoreditch High Street and Shadwell stations on the Windrush line of the Overground. To the west of Whitechapel, on the Elizabeth line, is Liverpool Street; to the east the line splits, with one branch heading towards Stratford and the other towards Canary Wharf.

The Great Eastern Main Line (GEML, sometimes referred to as the East Anglia Main Line) is a 114.5-mile (184.3 km) major railway line on the British railway system which connects Liverpool Street station in central London with destinations in east London and the East of England, including Shenfield, Chelmsford, Colchester, Ipswich and Norwich. Its numerous branches also connect the main line to Southminster, Braintree, Sudbury, Harwich and a number of coastal towns including Southend-on-Sea, Clacton-on-Sea, Walton-on-the-Naze and Lowestoft.

Its main users are commuters travelling to and from London, particularly the City of London, which is served by Liverpool Street, and areas in east London, including the Docklands financial district via the London Underground and Docklands Light Railway connections at Stratford. The line is also heavily used by leisure travellers, as it and its branches serve a number of seaside resorts, shopping areas and countryside destinations. The route also provides the main artery for substantial freight traffic to and from Felixstowe and Harwich, via their respective branch lines. Trains from Southend Airport also run into London via the GEML.

Crossrail is a completed railway project centred on London. It provides a high-frequency hybrid commuter rail and rapid transit system, akin to the RER in Paris and the S-Bahn systems of German-speaking countries, known as the Elizabeth line, that crosses the capital from suburbs on the west to east and connects two major railway lines terminating in London: the Great Western Main Line and the Great Eastern Main Line. The project was approved in 2007, and construction began in 2009 on the central section and connections to existing lines that became part of the route, which has been named the Elizabeth line in honour of Queen Elizabeth II who opened the line on 17 May 2022 during her Platinum Jubilee. The central section of the line between Paddington and Abbey Wood opened on 24 May 2022, with 12 trains per hour running in each direction through the core section in Central London.

The main feature of the project was the construction of a new railway line that runs underground from Paddington Station to a junction near Whitechapel. There it splits into a branch to Stratford, where it joins the Great Eastern Main Line; and a branch to Abbey Wood in southeast London.