Debden is a

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent ceremonial counties of England, counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and He ...

station on the Central line in the east of

Loughton Loughton () is a town and civil parish in the Epping Forest District of Essex. Part of the metropolitan and urban area of London, the town borders Chingford, Waltham Abbey, Theydon Bois, Chigwell and Buckhurst Hill, and is northeast of Chari ...

, in the

Epping Forest Epping Forest is a area of ancient woodland, and other established habitats, which straddles the border between Greater London and Essex. The main body of the forest stretches from Epping in the north, to Chingford on the edge of the London ...

district of

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

. The station is between

and Theydon Bois. It is located in Station Approach off Chigwell Lane ( A1168) and is in

Travelcard Zone 6 Fare zone 6 is an outer zone of Transport for London's zonal fare system used for calculating the price of tickets for travel on the London Underground, London Overground, Docklands Light Railway, National Rail services (since 2007), and the El ...

History

The station was originally opened on 24 April 1865Clive's Underground Line Guides – Central Line, dates
/ref> by the

Great Eastern Railway The Great Eastern Railway (GER) was a pre-grouping British railway company, whose main line linked London Liverpool Street to Norwich and which had other lines through East Anglia. The company was grouped into the London and North Eastern R ...

as part of an extension of the railway's Loughton branch to

Epping Epping may refer to: Places Australia * Epping, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney ** Epping railway station, Sydney * Electoral district of Epping, the corresponding seat in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly * Epping Forest, Kearns, a he ...

and Ongar. Initially called Chigwell Road, it was soon renamed on 1 December 1865 as Chigwell Lane, but remained a single-platform halt for the first years of its life. It was the setting for the Victorian ballad ''The Chigwell Stationmaster's Wife'', Chigwell station not having opened until 1903. Chigwell Lane was one of a number of GER stations that saw a temporary suspension of passenger services, due to the need to make economies during the First World War. The station was closed from 22 May 1916 until 3 February 1919. As a consequence of the 1921

Railways Act Railways Act (with its variations) is a stock short title used in India, Malaysia and the United Kingdom for legislation relating to railways. List India * The Indian Railways Act, 1890 * The Railways Act, 1989 Malaysia *The Railways Act 1991 *T ...

, the GER was merged with other railway companies in 1923 to form part of the

London & North Eastern Railway London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major se ...

(LNER). As part of the New Works Programme, 1935-1940, the LNER branch was transferred to London Underground, to form part of the eastern extension of the Central line. Although work commenced in 1938 it was suspended upon the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 and work only recommenced in 1946.

British Railways British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...

(BR, successor to LNER after

nationalisation Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...

in 1948) steam services were replaced by electric Central line passenger services on 25 September 1949. From the handover, the station was renamed Debden. British Railways goods services continued to be operated on the branch for years afterwards.Clive's Underground Line Guides – Central Line, history
/ref>

The station today

Debden station operates as an intermediate terminus for eastbound trains from central London, and a number of peak-hours trains terminate at the station rather than continuing to Epping. A turnback siding east of the station allows eastbound trains terminating at Debden to reverse direction and enter the westbound platform to return to central London. The siding may also be used in the reverse direction, allowing westbound trains from Epping to be terminated at Debden during service disruptions and return east. At one time there were two sidings at Debden and the majority of trains terminated there with a limited service continuing to Epping. However, the Epping service has improved considerably and this has reduced the number of trains terminating at Debden. The present station buildings on the eastbound platform largely date from a reconstruction in 1974, although the original stationmaster's house survives adjacent to the ticket office. In April 2021, Debden became the 82nd accessible station on the Underground, following the construction of two lifts and a connecting bridge to link the two platforms. Work to make the station accessible was first announced in January 2018, as part of a £200m investment plan to increase the number of accessible stations on the Tube.

Connections

London Buses London Buses is the subsidiary of Transport for London (TfL) that manages most bus services in London, England. It was formed following the Greater London Authority Act 1999 that transferred control of London Regional Transport (LRT) bus se ...

routes 20, 397 and

677 __NOTOC__ Year 677 ( DCLXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 677 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar e ...

serve the station, as well as a number of non-Transport for London contracted buses, including routes 66, 418, 418B and 542.

Gallery

Image:Debden stn east.JPG, Looking eastbound towards Epping Image:Debden stn west.JPG, Looking westbound towards London Image:Debden stn roundel.JPG, Roundel on westbound platform

References

External links

{{Central line navbox Central line (London Underground) stations Proposed Chelsea-Hackney Line stations Tube stations in Essex Transport in Epping Forest District Former Great Eastern Railway stations London Underground stations located above ground Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1865 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1916 Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1919 Loughton