Before the arrival of the Jubilee line, London's
Docklands had suffered from relatively poor public transport. Although the
Docklands Light Railway station at Canary Wharf had been operating since 1987, by 1990 it was obvious that the DLR's capacity would soon be reached. The Jubilee line's routing through Canary Wharf was intended to relieve some of this pressure. The tube station was intended from the start to be the showpiece of the
Jubilee Line Extension, and the contract for its design was awarded in 1990 to the architect
Sir Norman Foster. It was constructed, by a
Tarmac Construction /
Bachy UK Joint Venture, in a drained arm of the former dock, using a simple "
cut and cover" method to excavate an enormous pit 24 metres (78 ft) deep and 265 metres (869 ft) long. The station was opened on 17 September 1999. In 2004, three additional entrances to the station were opened, increasing the station capacity. The size of the interior has led to it being compared to a
cathedral, and it has even been used to celebrate a wedding. Foster based the design upon previous work done for the
Bilbao Metro, colloquially named "
Fosteritos". However, the main reason for the station's enormous dimensions was the great number of passengers predicted; as many as 50,000 daily. It remains the only tube station to accommodate rush hour demand. and within a decade it had become the only station outside of
Zone 1 to be ranked within the top-ten most used stations. Canary Wharf station and the Jubilee line Extension itself were partly funded by the owners of the Canary Wharf complex, to make it more accessible to commuters. The Canary Wharf group had committed to £500 million of funding for the capital costs, over 24 years. They were, however, underwhelmed by the proposed service frequency. In a 2013 poll conducted by YouGov, it was voted as the "Most Loved" tube station in London and "despite its immense volume [it is] comfortable and inviting". == Awards and accreditations ==