Elsenham railway station

Elsenham
The waiting room on the southbound platform
Location
Place	Elsenham
Local authority	District of Uttlesford
Coordinates	51°55′16″N 0°13′41″E / 51.921°N 0.228°ECoordinates: 51°55′16″N 0°13′41″E / 51.921°N 0.228°E
Grid reference	TL533270
Operations
Station code	ESM
Managed by	Abellio Greater Anglia
Number of platforms	2
DfT category	E
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2004/05	0.192 million
2005/06	0.186 million
2006/07	0.168 million
2007/08	0.181 million
2008/09	0.186 million
2009/10	0.165 million
2010/11	0.173 million
2011/12	0.176 million
2012/13	0.173 million
2013/14	0.182 million
History
Key dates	Opened 1845
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Elsenham from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Elsenham railway station serves the village of Elsenham in Essex, England. The station, and all trains serving it, are operated by Abellio Greater Anglia. The ticket office (on the southbound platform) is staffed part-time, there are self-service ticket machines on each of the platforms (which are 'staggered', the northbound being north of the level crossing and the southbound being south of the level crossing) and a Permit to Travel machine is also available on the southbound platform. Electronic real-time 'Next Train' indicators are available on both platforms.^[1]

The station is 35 miles (56 km) north of London Liverpool Street on the West Anglia Main Line to Cambridge. It was opened in 1845 and retains its original layout with staggered platforms on either side of a road level crossing. From 1913 to 1952 it was the junction for the Elsenham & Thaxted Light Railway.

Elsenham accidents

The pedestrian level crossing with the new footbridge added in 2007

On 3 December 2005, a high-speed train struck and killed two teenage girls on the station pedestrian crossing, next to the manually operated road level crossing, between the staggered platforms. Although flashing red lights and a klaxon sound indicated that a train was approaching, it is likely that they thought these applied to the train they wanted to catch to Cambridge, which was just pulling in to the opposite platform. The curvature of the line gives only 3 seconds visibility of an approaching non-stop train. A previous fatality of the same type had occurred in 1989.^[2]

Previous risk assessments carried out by Network Rail in 2002 had identified potential dangers with the crossing and recommended the installation of gates that would lock automatically as trains approached, but this was not acted upon. In 2012 Network Rail was prosecuted for breaching health and safety law and fined £1 million for the accident.^[3]

Since the accident, Network Rail responded to requests from the girls' families and erected a footbridge and installed locking gates at the foot crossing in August 2007. The accident led to a complete review by the Rail Accident Investigation Branch of all pedestrian level crossings at stations.^[2]

Service

There is an hourly service every day in each direction going towards Cambridge, northbound and London Liverpool Street southbound.

At peak times, the service increases in both directions.

References

1. http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/stations/ESM/details.html
2. Department for Transport Rail Accident Investigation Branch (December 2006). "Rail Accident Report: Investigation into station pedestrian crossings...; with reference to the fatal accident at Elsenham station on 3 December 2005" (PDF).
3. "Network Rail fined £1m over girls' level crossing deaths". BBC News. 15 March 2012. Retrieved 16 March 2012.

External links

• Train times and station information for Elsenham railway station from National Rail
• Railways Archive account including RAIB report
• Historic England. "Details from image database (121790)". Images of England.
• Station on navigable O.S. map