Chingford railway station

Chingford
Location
Place	Chingford
Local authority	Waltham Forest
Operations
Managed by	'one'
Platforms in use	3
National Rail
Station code	CHI
Annual entry/exit	1.117 million **
Transport for London
Zone	5
History
Key dates	Opened 1873
Transport for London List of London stations: Underground | National Rail
** based on sales of tickets in 2004/05 financial year which end or originate at this station. Disclaimer (PDF)
UK Railways Portal

Chingford Station stands on the edge of Epping Forest, serving the town and the daytrip destinations in the forest it was intended to conquer. The maximum carriages for any service departing from Chingford Station is 8 carriages.

History

The Eastern Counties Railway had begun its venture into a main line railway that would head north to compete with the Great Northern. Limited funds and incessant squabbling had slowed its progress. After the merger with several other lines, the ECR became part of the Great Eastern Railway. The GER planned a network of lines to serve countryside around London by its Metropolitan Station and Railways Act of 1864. It also planned a line to High Beech to serve Epping Forest, which in the event, reached a terminus in Bull Lane, Chingford, in 1873. In 1878 the little station that had served the village well and had been placed near to the village green, was replaced by a much more grandiose station on the very edge of town, overlooking the forest. The extension of the railway by only 600 yards to a place far less useful to the local population was purely an attempt to trap tourist traffic to the forest, and also to stimulate suburban growth in the fields surrounding it. The rail line had been doubled and the new station built as a through station, with its platforms and tracks leading out onto an embankment ready to leap across the newly named Station Road and enter the forest. The railway itself by means of its positioning had fostered new interest in the forest as a trip destination and the popularity of this Crown land and its impending loss to development was not unnoticed. In 1882 none other than Queen Victoria herself came by train to Chingford and declared the forest open to the public forever. The railway that had encouraged so much interest and carried the Royal party to the very edge of town was now stumped as any new development on the forest lands would be strictly controlled. However, the Chingford Rise Estate company developed land to the south with large villas, some of which now sell for over £1 million each. Chingford station became a commuter terminal and was eventually truncated to make way for a bus station. The line no longer towers over the forest, but hides quietly behind the bustle of Station Road, its electric trains now transporting workers into the city, rather than helping the masses to escape it. The station building is relatively unchanged since its 1878 construction, and still carries the grandeur that accompanied the railway schemes of the late 19th century.

Services

The next station on the line towards Liverpool Street is Highams Park. The typical off-peak service is:

• 4tph to Liverpool Street

External links

• Train times and station information for Chingford railway station from National Rail
• Street map and aerial photo of Chingford railway station from Multimap.com
• Chingford railway station is at coordinates 51°37′59″N 0°00′34″E / 51.6331, 0.0094Coordinates: 51°37′59″N 0°00′34″E / 51.6331, 0.0094