Stansted Airport railway station is on a branch line off the

West Anglia Main Line The West Anglia Main Line is one of the two main lines that operate out of , the other being the Great Eastern Main Line, which operates services to Ipswich and Norwich via Colchester. It runs generally north through Cheshunt, Broxbourne, Har ...

in the east of England and was opened in 1991 to provide a rail link to

London Stansted Airport London Stansted Airport is a tertiary international airport serving London, England, United Kingdom. It is located near Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex, England, northeast of Central London. London Stansted serves over 160 destinations ac ...

. It is down the line from London Liverpool Street station, to which a frequent dedicated service called the

Stansted Express The Stansted Express is a direct train service linking London Liverpool Street to London Stansted Airport. It is a sub-brand of Greater Anglia, the current franchise operator of the East Anglia franchise. History In 1986, British Rail (BR) e ...

operates. The short branch line was constructed at a cost of £44 million and opened by British Rail to coincide with the completion of the airport's new terminal building.

Layout

Platforms 1 and 3 run the full length of the station and are used for Stansted Express and services. The shorter platform number 2 is used for the CrossCountry-operated services to Birmingham New Street. In 2011 platform 1 was extended to accommodate two trains simultaneously in combinations of up to 16 coaches, and platform 2 was extended to accommodate four-coach trains. The station is in a concrete box structure that is unusually above ground level rather than below ground, being constructed under the terminal building. This is evident at the western end of the platforms which are left open and is a similar design to Wembley Central railway station.

Services

Services at Stansted Airport are operated by Greater Anglia (including services under the

brand) and CrossCountry. The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is: * 2 tph to

London Liverpool Street Liverpool Street station, also known as London Liverpool Street, is a central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in the north-eastern corner of the City of London, in the ward of Bishopsgate Without. It is the t ...

* 1 tph to via * 1 tp2h to via Cambridge and

References

External links

*
Stansted Airport Trains
{{authority control Railway stations in Essex DfT Category B stations Railway stations opened by British Rail Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1991 Railway stations served by CrossCountry

Railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...

Greater Anglia franchise railway stations Airport railway stations in the United Kingdom 1991 establishments in England