Woodgrange Park railway station is a railway station on
Romford Road
The A118 is a road in east London, England which links Bow Interchange with Gallows Corner in Romford via Stratford and Ilford. The section from Bow Interchange to Gallows Corner formed the original route of the A12 until the designatio ...
in
Manor Park in the
London Borough of Newham
The London Borough of Newham is a London borough created in 1965 by the London Government Act 1963. It covers an area previously administered by the Essex county boroughs of West Ham and East Ham, authorities that were both abolished by the s ...
, east
London
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 majo ...
. It is served by
London Overground
London Overground (also known simply as the Overground) is a Urban rail in the United Kingdom, suburban rail network serving London and its environs. Established in 2007 to take over Silverlink Metro routes, (via archive.org). it now serves a ...
, and is on the
Gospel Oak to Barking line, down the line from ; it lies in
Travelcard Zones 3 and
4. It has only limited station buildings and facilities.
Location
The station is on the
Gospel Oak to Barking line, west of . Its National Location Code (NLC) is 7467. It stands on
Romford Road
The A118 is a road in east London, England which links Bow Interchange with Gallows Corner in Romford via Stratford and Ilford. The section from Bow Interchange to Gallows Corner formed the original route of the A12 until the designatio ...
, a short walk from station with which Woodgrange Park has an official
out-of-station interchange
The Oyster card is a payment method for public transport in London (and certain areas around it) in England, United Kingdom. A standard Oyster card is a blue ISO/IEC 7810, credit-card-sized Stored-value card, stored-value contactless smart car ...
.
However, the National Rail Timetable suggests interchanging one stop to the west, from to .
History
Track was laid through the site in 1854 as part of the first section of the
London, Tilbury and Southend Railway
The London, Tilbury and Southend Railway (LT&SR), was a British railway company, whose network connected Fenchurch Street railway station, Fenchurch Street station, in central London, with destinations in east London and Essex, including , , , T ...
, from Forest Gate Junction on the
Eastern Counties Railway
The Eastern Counties Railway (ECR) was an English Rail transport, railway company incorporated in 1836 intended to link London with Ipswich via Colchester, and then extend to Norwich and Great Yarmouth, Yarmouth.
Construction began in 1837 on t ...
to Barking.
The LT&SR opened a more direct route from Barking to Fenchurch Street on 11 March 1858 so its trains could avoid the congested station at Stratford. After that the line was used by a small number of Liverpool Street to Barking services operated by the Eastern Counties Railway and after 1862 the Great Eastern Railway. A few goods trains also used this route.
In 1894 the
Tottenham and Forest Gate Railway
The Tottenham & Forest Gate Railway was a railway line in north London, formed by an Act of Parliament of 1890 and built as joint venture between the Midland Railway and the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway. It officially opened on 1 July 189 ...
opened a new railway to Tottenham, beginning at a junction just north of the station site.
This railway was a joint venture between the
Midland Railway
The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had its headquarters. It am ...
and
London Tilbury and Southend Railway
The London, Tilbury and Southend Railway (LT&SR), was a British railway company, whose network connected Fenchurch Street station, in central London, with destinations in east London and Essex, including , , , Tilbury, Southend and . The company ...
. The station was opened on 9 July 1894 and on opening was served by trains from the new line as well as the few GER Liverpool Street - Barking services.
A few services were routed to East Ham via the East Ham loop but the majority went onto to Barking (with a small number continuing to Southend).
Some goods sidings were opened on the Barking end of the station and these acted as exchange sidings between Midland Railway and LT&SR trains as well as serving local businesses. In connection with this facility a short spur line (known as the East Ham Loop) to was opened in 1894 and this allowed LTSR goods trains from the London (Fenchurch Street) direction to access the exchange sidings.
The exchange sidings lasted until 1909 when a new facility between Woodgrange Park and Barking was opened as Woodgrange Park and Barking Goods Yard (which acted as the exchange point between the Great Eastern and LTSR) were congested. The whole of this area was remodelled 1905-1909 as part of the quadrupling from Bromley to Barking and the electrification and extension of District Line services. By 1916 the goods sidings at Woodgrange Park were reduced to coal traffic only and continued in this role until closure whilst the former exchange sidings were used for engineering traffic.
Following the 1921 Railways Act Woodgrange Park became a
London, Midland & Scottish Railway
The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSIt has been argued that the initials LMSR should be used to be consistent with LNER, GWR and SR. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway's corporate image used LMS, and this is what is generally u ...
(LMS) station. In 1948 the station was taken over by British Railways following nationalisation. The spur from East Ham closed in 1958 when the few remaining T&FG services were diverted to Barking and its closure was part of the scheme to separate the LTS and District Line into two distinct railways. The engineering sidings closed 27 June 1964 and the station coal yard closed 7 December 1964.
During 1964 the street level station buildings were demolished and replaced by a new structure and the platform buildings were demolished and replaced by shelters c1976. At this time the station was little used.
The section from Forest Gate Junction through the station to Barking was electrified in 1962 as part of the LT&SR modernisation and electrification scheme, and was used by a limited number of
services (which do not stop at Woodgrange Park) and by regular freight trains.
The station was closed between October 2016 and February 2017 whilst the rest of the
Gospel Oak to Barking line was fully electrified. Electric London Overground trains (
Class 710) began servicing the station from 2019.
Design
It is a station with limited facilities; the ticket office was demolished in the late 1990s, and the space used for a small cycle rack. Staff operate from a container-sized portable office. Recently a number of self-service touch-screen ticket machines have been added, which accept coins, credit cards and notes.
Oyster card
The Oyster card is a payment method for public transport in London (and certain areas around it) in England, United Kingdom. A standard Oyster card is a blue credit-card-sized stored-value contactless smart card. It is promoted by Transport ...
validators have also been installed. The station was briefly equipped with
APTIS
APTIS was the Accountancy and Passenger Ticket Issuing System used on the British Rail/National Rail network until 2007. It was originally called "Advanced Passenger Ticket Issuing System" as it was being developed at the time of the Advanced P ...
equipment in 1988/89.
Services and connections
The normal
London Overground
London Overground (also known simply as the Overground) is a Urban rail in the United Kingdom, suburban rail network serving London and its environs. Established in 2007 to take over Silverlink Metro routes, (via archive.org). it now serves a ...
passenger service is four trains per hour in each direction, dropping to half-hourly in the evenings. There used to be a
parliamentary train
A parliamentary train was a passenger service operated in the United Kingdom to comply with the Railway Regulation Act 1844 that required train companies to provide inexpensive and basic rail transport for less affluent passengers. The act req ...
service also operated by London Overground running at 07:59 on Mondays to Fridays from Woodgrange Park to (no return),
but this was cancelled in 2018. The line is also used for freight trains to and from the
Port of Tilbury
The Port of Tilbury is a port on the River Thames at Tilbury in Essex, England. It is the principal port for London, as well as being the main United Kingdom port for handling the importation of paper. There are extensive facilities for contai ...
and the railfreight terminal at
Dagenham Dock
Dagenham Dock is a place in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham in London, England. It is located to the south of Dagenham and on the River Thames. It was once the site of a large coaling port and continues to be the location of a small t ...
. c2c's infrequent services to
Liverpool Street also pass through without stopping.
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
25,
86,
425 and night routes
N25 and
N86 serve the station.
Gallery
File:Woodgrange Park stn look east.JPG, Eastbound platform looking east
File:Woodgrange Park stn look west.JPG, Eastbound platform looking west
File:Woodgrange Park stn roundel.JPG, Station platform roundel
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Woodgrange Park Railway Station
Railway stations in the London Borough of Newham
DfT Category E stations
Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1894
Railway stations served by London Overground
Manor Park, London
East Ham