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Lea Bridge railway station

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Lea Bridge National Rail
File:Lea Bridge railway station being rebuilt.jpg
Lea Bridge Station in June 2015
LocationLeyton/Lea Bridge
Local authorityLondon Borough of Waltham Forest
Grid referenceTQ362872
Managed byAbellio Greater Anglia
OwnerNetwork Rail
Number of platforms2
AccessibleYes[1]
Fare zone3
Key dates
15 September 1840 (1840-09-15)Opened as Lea Bridge Road by the Northern and Eastern Railway
April 1871Renamed to Lea Bridge
8 July 1985 (1985-07-08)Closed
December 2015Planned reopening
Other information
London transport portal

Lea Bridge is a closed railway station on the line between Stratford and Tottenham Hale on the Lea Valley Lines.[2] The station was on the north side of Lea Bridge Road (A104), close to its junction with Argall Way and Orient Way, in Leyton in the London Borough of Waltham Forest, north-east London.

It was closed in 1985, but is due to reopen by December 2015.

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.[3] 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.[4] 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.[5] On 31 March 1944, the station building was gutted by fire although the frontage survived.[5] 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][6]

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.[7] 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 between Stratford and Stansted Airport 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.[8] 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.[9]

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)[10] 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.[11] However, the construction date proper has now slipped to January 2015 with train services hoped to be running from December 2015.[12] The station has been included in Network Rail's Route Specification for Anglia for opening within the next five years.[13]


Preceding station   Disused railways   Following station
Stratford   Great Eastern
Railway
Lea Valley Lines 		  Tottenham Hale

Future Service

It is planned that a half hourly service will serve Lea Bridge from December 2015, the station will see:

Preceding station National Rail National Rail Following station
Stratford   Abellio Greater Anglia
West Anglia Main Line (Stratford Route) 		  Tottenham Hale
Stratford   Abellio Greater Anglia
Liverpool Street-Broxbounre via Seven Sisters and Stratford
Limited service 		  Seven Sisters

Future connections

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

References

  1. ^ "London and South East" (PDF). National Rail. September 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 March 2009.
  2. ^ a b c "Disused Stations". London Reconnections. Retrieved 4 January 2014.
  3. ^ Mitchell, Vic; Dave Brennand (January 2014). Stratford - Cheshunt including the Southbury Loop. Midhurst,UK: Middleton Press. p. 22. ISBN 978 1 908174 53 6.
  4. ^ Jackson, Alan A (1999). London's Local Railways (2nd ed.). Harrow Weald: Capital Transport Publishing. p. 372.
  5. ^ a b Bayes, C S (October 1984). "Lea Bridge station:a recollection". Great Eastern Journal (40): 15.
  6. ^ Mitchell, Vic; Dave Brennand (January 2014). Stratford - Cheshunt including the Southbury Loop. Midhurst,UK: Middleton Press. p. 21. ISBN 978 1 908174 53 6.
  7. ^ Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. p. 140. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  8. ^ Curtis, Joe; Binns, Daniel (6 February 2012). "Boost for bid to re-open station". Waltham Forest Guardian. Retrieved 24 September 2012.
  9. ^ "Lea Bridge Station is go!" (PDF). Waltham Forest News. 2013-01-28. Retrieved 2013-01-28.
  10. ^ "Reopening of Lea Bridge Station" (PDF). Waltham Forest Council. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  11. ^ "LEA VALLEY RAIL - better access to jobs" (PDF). Chingford Line Users Association and Railfuture. Retrieved 8 January 2014.
  12. ^ "The reopening of Lea Bridge station will be a boost for buyers on a budget". Homes and Property. London Evening Standard. 23 July 2014. Retrieved 19 August 2014.
  13. ^ "Route Specifications 2014 Anglia" (PDF). Network Rail. 2 April 2014. Retrieved 19 August 2014.
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