The station was opened in 1872 and was formerly called Bethnal Green Junction until 1946;[2] it was also formerly served by trains on the Great Eastern Main Line (GEML) via Stratford.

The station is situated on Three Colts Lane and is within walking distance to Bethnal Green Road via Wilmot Street.

[3] By the early to mid-1860s it was clear the original Bishopsgate terminus (renamed from Spitalfields in 1846) was not big enough to cope with the increasing suburban development north and east of the area.

A new line running north from the Bethnal Green site to Enfield Town was opened in May 1872 and a month later from Hackney Downs to Chingford.

Both these openings meant that trains from the north were no longer required to be routed via Stratford which was also becoming an increasingly congested location at the time.

These were finally completed in May 1875 and the new terminus fully opened to traffic on 1 November 1875 with the old Bishopsgate station closing to passengers on the same day.

By the 1880s it was clear that Liverpool Street required further extension and this included a third set of running lines between Bethnal Green and the terminus.

Following the closure of the main line platforms in 1946 only Enfield Town, Chingford, and Seven Sisters services would have called at Bethnal Green.

The lines through Hackney were electrified in the late 1950s with electric services commencing operation on 21 November 1960 to Chingford and Enfield Town.

By the early 1980s, the original GER platform buildings were in poor condition and were demolished in 1985/1986, being replaced by spartan brick-built structures.

All services at Bethnal Green are operated as part of the Weaver line of the London Overground using Class 710 EMUs.

Granary Junction was the main signal box controlling the approaches to Bishopsgate Goods Yard (as it was by then) and the sidings at Spitalfields.

The first Granary Junction box was opened in 1872 and was replaced in 1880 with both structures being located on the south side of the goods lines.

The box lost its semaphores on 27 November 1935 when the line between Bethnal Green and Hackney Downs was converted to Track Circuit Block and automatic colour light signalling.

However two posts were transferred to the new box in 1949 and in the early years the function of the timekeepers there was: [18][19] There was a small single-track engine shed on the south side of the line as part of the Spitalfields Depot.

It housed shunting locomotives that worked Bishopsgate goods depot and the Spitalfields coal sidings which were in use 24 hours per day.