The original Mudchute DLR station was on the route of the old Millwall Extension Railway. This was a Victorian railway line that had been disused for many years. The original elevated station opened on 31 August 1987. It was the last station before the terminus at Island Gardens. When the line was extended under the River Thames to a new terminus at Lewisham, Mudchute station was rebuilt in a shallow cutting close to the tunnel entrance. The rebuilt station opened on 20 November 1999. In April 2008 work started on replacing the siding formed by the old route into a third platform for reversing trains and adding a canopy over the station. By October 2009 these works were complete.