The station was first opened on 1 November 1865 by the North London Railway on its "City Extension" from the NorthLondon Line to Broad Street in the City of London. It had three island platforms with four through lines joining the west side of the North London line, and two joining the east. The station had no overall roof. The line to Broad Street and the station closed after the last trains ran on 27 June 1986. However, the location at the corner of Kingsland High Street and Dalston Lane retained the name Dalston Junction on road and bus signs throughout the period that the station was closed.
Re-opened station
Rebuilding the station for the London Overground network began with site clearance in early 2005. The station was opened by the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, on 27 April 2010. A limited weekday "preview" service started that day with the first train leaving Dalston Junction at 12.05. The service was of eight trains per hour between Dalston Junction and station from 07:00 to 20:00; four of the eight trains continued to and four to. The full service to West Croydon with branches to and began on 23 May 2010, at hours similar to those of the London Underground. The service interval to each of the three southern terminals is approximately fifteen minutes for most of the day, though greater early mornings, late evenings, and parts of Sundays. The South London Line was open to the public on 9 December 2012 and officially launched the next day by the Mayor, with the station now serving as the northern terminus to and trains. and trains now start from Highbury & Islington. In the first phase of the extension of the East London Line, Dalston Junction was the temporary northern terminus for all trains. From 28 February 2011 to 9 December 2012, trains from West Croydon and Crystal Palace continued beyond Dalston Junction, taking the relaid west curve north of the station to. As stated above, Dalston Junction still remains a terminal for trains, using the two bay platforms in the middle of the station. Transport for London and Hackney London Borough Council are currently developing the extensive station site with a bus interchange and high-rise towers above the new station. On 6 December 2012, The Co-operative Food opened a branch, located left of the station's main entrance. The new station has two platform islands, the outer sides of each providing through services, the inner bay faces supporting terminating services. Although the route eastward at the north end of the station has been protected it would require substantial reconstruction first. The entire station is underneath a new building development.
Station layout
The western of the two chords north of the station was reinstated on 28 February 2011 for East London Line services to. There are no plans to rebuild the eastern chord but its alignment has been safeguarded. The eastern chord was used by Broad Street services to Poplar until 1944 and freight services until 1965. The City Extension to the south was mainly four-track but now has only two. The wide site at Dalston Junction has in the past had six platforms.
Services
London Overground
Rail services are provided by London Overground. Mondays to Saturdays there is a service every 5–10 minutes throughout the day, while on Sundays before 13:00 there is a service every 5–9 minutes, changing to every 7–8 minutes until the end of service after that. Current off peak frequency is:
