The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSR) took ownership of the London, Tilbury and Southend line in 1923 and the station opened as Gale Street Halt on 28 June 1926 to serve the new Becontree Estate and subsequent residential areas. Initially, there were no roads leading to the station. In 1929, the company proposed quadrupling their line between Barking and Upminster and electrifying one pair of tracks for the District line. The station was rebuilt and new platforms were constructed for the new pair of tracks. Gale Street Halt was renamed as Becontree and the new station building to the designs of the architect William Henry Hamlyn opened on 18 July 1932, with electrified District line services starting operation 2 months after on 12 September. In addition to the start of electrified services, two new adjacent stations on the District line named Upney and Heathway (now Dagenham Heathway) opened.
