Lea Bridge railway station

Lea Bridge National Rail

Lea Bridge Station in June 2015
Lea Bridge
Location of Lea Bridge in Greater London
Location Leyton/Lea Bridge
Local authority London Borough of Waltham Forest
Grid reference TQ362872
Managed by Abellio Greater Anglia
Owner Network Rail
Station code LEB
Number of platforms 2
Accessible Yes [1]
Fare zone 3
Key dates
15 September 1840 (1840-09-15) Opened as Lea Bridge Road by the Northern and Eastern Railway
April 1871 Renamed to Lea Bridge
8 July 1985 (1985-07-08) Closed
Spring 2016 Planned reopening
Other information
Lists of stations
External links
London Transport portalCoordinates: 51°34′02″N 0°02′11″W / 51.5672°N 0.0363°W / 51.5672; -0.0363

Lea Bridge is a railway station on the line between Stratford and Tottenham Hale on the Lea Valley Lines[2] due to open on 15 May 2016.[3]

The station is loated on Argall Way, close to its junction with Lea Bridge Road (A104) and Orient Way, in Leyton in the London Borough of Waltham Forest, north-east London. The original station operated from 1840 to 1985 and was accessed via the north side of Lea Bridge Road as it crosses the tracks.

History

19th century

The station was opened on 15 September 1840 by the Northern and Eastern Railway as Lea Bridge Road and is thought to be the earliest example of a station having its building on a railway bridge, with staircases down to the platforms. The original station building was an attractive Italianate style structure designed by Sancton Wood (1815-1886) and featured a bell turret on the roof with a bell that was rung when a train was due.[4] The line was initially laid to a gauge of 5 ft (1,524 mm) but already this had been identified as non standard and between 5 September and 7 October 1844 the whole network was re-laid to 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge.

The Northern and Eastern Railway was leased by the Eastern Counties Railway, which operated the station. The ECR then became part of the Great Eastern Railway (GER) in 1862. On the eastern side of the line, the GER established its signal works (which included a dummy signal box), although the works were demolished in 1939 and replaced by a parcels depot. To the south of the station were the large Temple Mills marshalling yards, and the station would have seen large numbers of goods trains passing. In 1870, a line was opened to Shern Hall Street station (a temporary station located west of the present-day Wood Street station) and a shuttle service operated between Lea Bridge and Shern Hall Street, commencing traffic on 24 April 1870. Prior to this, a horse bus operating between Walthamstow and Lea Bridge had met all trains arriving at the station.[5] The station was renamed Lea Bridge in April 1871.

20th century

In 1923 the GER became part of the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER). In the 1930s, the station was served by trains to Liverpool Street (via Stratford), to North Woolwich (via Stratford low level platforms), and to Hertford East and Palace Gates. At that time there were Sunday services via the Hall Farm curve to the Chingford Branch.[6] On 31 March 1944, the station building was gutted by fire although the frontage survived.[6] After World War II, in 1948, the railways of the UK were nationalised, and operation of the station passed to British Railways Eastern Region. The Hall Farm spur line through to the Chingford branch was rarely used and, despite being electrified in 1960, the line was lifted in 1967.[2][7]

Closure

The station became an unstaffed halt in 1976 and it was about this time that the station building was demolished.

By this time, the only trains serving the station were those operating between Tottenham Hale and North Woolwich via Stratford (low level platforms), and the withdrawal of this service led to the closure of the station on 8 July 1985.[8] The simple, open-sided shelter, which was located on the road bridge over the tracks and had replaced the original station buildings, was also demolished in 1985.

The last train was formed of a two-car Cravens Class 105 DMU.[2]

Re-opening

In December 2005, a new service to and from Stratford reintroduced regular passenger trains passing through the closed station.

For many years, plans were considered to rebuild and reopen the station, and the nearby Hall Farm Curve junction, as part of wider plans for the redevelopment of the Stratford and Lower Lea Valley area.[9] In January 2013, it was announced that plans had been approved to rebuild and reopen the station. Construction on the £6.5m scheme was planned to start in spring 2014.[10] The station has been included in Network Rail's Route Specification for Anglia in 2014 for opening within the next five years.[11]

In October 2013, the overgrown platforms were cleared in preparation for construction of the new station building. The new buildings will be situated on the up side (towards Stratford)[12] rather than on the road bridge over the line, and the platforms will be linked by a footbridge. Estimates by Transport for London (TfL) show 352,000 entries and exits annually by 2031 with a service of two trains per hour. It was hoped that after 29 years of closure, the station would reopen late 2014.[13] The construction date slipped, but work started in July 2015; the station is now due to open in spring 2016.[14]

Future service

It is planned that a 20-minute service will serve Lea Bridge on Monday to Saturdays from re-opening. The station will see:

The Sunday off peak service would be:

Future connections

London Buses routes that will serve the station and currently serve the surrounding area are 48, 55 and 56 and night routes N38 and N55.

References

  1. ↑ "London and South East" (PDF). National Rail Enquiries. National Rail. September 2006. Archived from the original (pdf) on 6 March 2009.
  2. 1 2 3 "Disused Stations". London Reconnections. Retrieved 4 January 2014.
  3. ↑ Lea Bridge - Abellio Greater Anglia
  4. ↑ Mitchell, Vic; Dave Brennand (January 2014). Stratford - Cheshunt including the Southbury Loop. Midhurst,UK: Middleton Press. p. 22. ISBN 978 1 908174 53 6.
  5. ↑ Jackson, Alan A (1999). London's Local Railways (2nd ed.). Harrow Weald: Capital Transport Publishing. p. 372.
  6. 1 2 Bayes, C S (October 1984). "Lea Bridge station:a recollection". Great Eastern Journal (40): 15.
  7. ↑ Mitchell, Vic; Dave Brennand (January 2014). Stratford - Cheshunt including the Southbury Loop. Midhurst,UK: Middleton Press. p. 21. ISBN 978 1 908174 53 6.
  8. ↑ Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. p. 140. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508.
  9. ↑ Curtis, Joe; Binns, Daniel (6 February 2012). "Boost for bid to re-open station". Waltham Forest Guardian. Retrieved 24 September 2012.
  10. ↑ "Lea Bridge Station is go!" (PDF). Waltham Forest News. 2013-01-28. Retrieved 2013-01-28.
  11. ↑ "Route Specifications 2014 Anglia" (PDF). Network Rail. 2 April 2014. Retrieved 19 August 2014.
  12. ↑ "Reopening of Lea Bridge Station" (PDF). Waltham Forest Council. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  13. ↑ "LEA VALLEY RAIL - better access to jobs" (PDF). Chingford Line Users Association and Railfuture. Retrieved 8 January 2014.
  14. ↑ "A £15m station re-opening project will boost Waltham Forest's economy, travel and housing situation when it re-opens in 2016, according to council's leader". 10 July 2015. Retrieved 17 July 2015.

External links

Preceding station Disused railways Following station
Stratford   Great Eastern
Railway
Lea Valley Lines		   Tottenham Hale
  Great Eastern
Railway
Palace Gates Line		   South Tottenham
  Great Eastern
Railway
Hall Farm Curve		   St James Street
  Future development  
Stratford   Abellio Greater Anglia
West Anglia Main Line		   Tottenham Hale
Stratford   Stansted Express
Stratford branch		   Tottenham Hale
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