It is on the DLR's Beckton branch, in Travelcard Zone 3, and is the nearest station for the northern terminus of the IFS Cloud Cable Car and for London's new City Hall.

The station is located on a stretch of line first opened in 1855, when the Eastern Counties Railway (ECR) was forced to divert its line to North Woolwich (the former Eastern Counties and Thames Junction Railway) around the newly opened Royal Victoria Dock.

Royal Victoria station opened on the Docklands Light Railway tracks on 28 March 1994, while North London Line trains continued to pass without stopping on their tracks until that section of the line closed on 9 December 2006.

The flyover was constructed as part of the 3-Car Capacity Enhancement Project to serve Canning Town high-level DLR station.

It is 330 metres long, and is formed from a number of different structures connected by a continuous reinforced concrete deck cast in situ.