It takes its name from the nearby former East India Docks of the Port of London, where ships trading with the Indian subcontinent used to dock.

It is on the Beckton and Woolwich Arsenal branches of the DLR, and is in Travelcard Zones 2 and 3.

The historic Greenwich Prime Meridian crosses the DLR at the eastern end of the platforms, which is marked by an illuminated blue line underneath the tracks at street level.

The modern IERS Reference Meridian used by GPS crosses the tracks approximately 117 metres further east between Neutron Tower and Switch House, but is unmarked.

In February 2001 an episode of the ITV series The Bill featured DLR trains with 'Brunswick' as a dummy destination for filming purposes.