Shenfield railway station is on the

Great Eastern Main Line The Great Eastern Main Line (GEML, sometimes referred to as the East Anglia Main Line) is a major railway line on the British railway system which connects Liverpool Street station in central London with destinations in east London and the ...

in the

East of England The East of England is one of the nine official regions of England. This region was created in 1994 and was adopted for statistics purposes from 1999. It includes the ceremonial counties of Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, ...

, serving the town of

Shenfield Shenfield is a commuter suburb of Brentwood, in the borough of Brentwood, Essex, England. In 2020, the suburb was estimated to have a population of 5,396. History The old village (now town), by the church and Green Dragon pub, lies along the ...

, Essex. As well as being a key interchange for medium- and long-distance services on the main line, it is also the western terminus of a branch line to and one of the two eastern termini of the

Elizabeth line The Elizabeth line is a high-frequency hybrid urban–suburban rail service in London and its suburbs. It runs services on dedicated infrastructure in central London from the Great Western Main Line west of Paddington to and via Whitechapel ...

. It is down the line from Liverpool Street and is situated between and either on the main line or on the branch line. Its three-letter station code is SNF. The station was opened in 1843 and has since expanded from its original three platforms to the current six. It sees trains operated by Greater Anglia to main line destinations including , and , as well as branch line stations such as , , , and .

History

Shenfield station was opened by the

Eastern Counties Railway The Eastern Counties Railway (ECR) was an English railway company incorporated in 1836 intended to link London with Ipswich via Colchester, and then extend to Norwich and Yarmouth. Construction began in 1837 on the first nine miles at the ...

company on 29 March 1843 on the extension from Brentwood to

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colch ...

. As it was situated in a rural area, patronage was low, so it was closed in March 1850. It reopened with the name Shenfield & Hutton Junction on 1 January 1887 under 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 Ra ...

to serve as an interchange station with the new line to Southend that was completed two years later. There were three platforms, two up (London-bound) and one down (country-bound). Under the

London and North Eastern Railway The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) was the second largest (after LMS) of the " Big Four" railway companies created by the Railways Act 1921 in Britain. It operated from 1 January 1923 until nationalisation on 1 January 1948. At th ...

, two extra tracks for terminating local (suburban "metro") trains opened in 1934, resulting in five platforms. The 1920 survey of the station shows goods sidings and a turntable on the London side of the up platforms. The goods yard was closed on 4 May 1964 and it became the station's car park. The Hutton Junction suffix in the station's name was removed on 20 February 1969. The station is from Liverpool Street. Immediately west of the station is Brentwood bank, which descends steeply in the up (London) direction. This bank presented a significant climb to

steam train A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...

s. There are extensive sidings on the London side of the station just before the start of the descent down the bank. To the east of the station, the lines for Southend diverge to the south. West of Shenfield there are five tracks, but to the east these split, two towards and two towards . The

opened the Southend Loop to the east of the station on 1 January 1934. This enabled Southend trains to and from platforms 4 and 5 to dive-under the main line thus eliminating conflicting movements. The bi-directional loop line connects to the Southend line at Mountnessing Junction. The lines from London Liverpool Street and London Fenchurch Street (via Gas Factory Junction and Bow Junction) to Shenfield were electrified at 1500 V DC overhead system in 1949. This was converted to 6.5 kV AC in 1960. Gidea Park to Shenfield was converted to 25 kV AC in 1976. Liverpool Street to Gidea Park was converted to 25 kV AC in 1980. Oyster card readers were installed for pay-as-you-go journeys in 2013. Today, Shenfield is served by fast trains on the main line towards London, and it is the north-eastern terminus of the Elizabeth line. At peak hours the frequency of service will increase from eight trains per hour to 12, necessitating the construction of a new 210-metre long platform 6,CROSSRAIL INFORMATION PAPER A7 – SELECTION OF THE NORTH EASTERN TERMINUS
/ref> which was built to the north of platform 5, replacing one of the existing three western sidings.Chapter 18 - Route Window NE17 - Shenfield station
/ref> The two remaining western sidings and three new eastern sidings are also used by the Elizabeth line. Platforms 1 to 5 have an operational length for 12 carriages, platform 6 for 10 carriages.

Services

The typical off-peak service pattern at Shenfield is: *7 trains per hour (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 ...

, of which: **5 call at Stratford and Liverpool Street, **2 call at

Romford Romford is a large town in east London and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Havering. It is located northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Historically, Romfo ...

, Stratford and Liverpool Street *8 tph to

Paddington Paddington is an area within the City of Westminster, in Central London. First a medieval parish then a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Three important landmarks of the district are Padd ...

calling at all stations on the

*3 tph to

Southend Victoria Southend Victoria railway station is the eastern terminus of the Shenfield to Southend Line in the East of England, a branch off the Great Eastern Main Line, and is one of the primary stations serving the resort city of Southend-on-Sea, Essex (th ...

, calling at all stations to Southend Victoria; *1 tph to , calling at Ingatestone,

Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Southend-on-Sea and Colchester. It is located north-east of Londo ...

, Witham, then all stations to Braintree; *1 tph to

Clacton-on-Sea Clacton-on-Sea is a seaside town in the Tendring District in the county of Essex, England. It is located on the Tendring Peninsula and is the largest settlement in the Tendring District with a population of 56,874 (2016). The town is situated ...

, calling at Ingatestone, Chelmsford, Witham,

Wivenhoe Wivenhoe ( ) is a town and civil parish in north-eastern Essex, England, approximately south-east of Colchester. Historically Wivenhoe village, on the banks of the River Colne, and Wivenhoe Cross, on the higher ground to the north, were two ...

, Thorpe-le-Soken and Clacton-on-Sea; *1 tph to Colchester Town, calling at Chelmsford, Witham then all stations to Colchester Town; *1 tph to

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line ...

, calling at Chelmsford then all stations to Ipswich. During peak times, service frequencies may be increased and calling patterns varied. Service frequencies are generally reduced on Sundays.

References

External links

*
Excel file displaying National Rail station usage information for 2005/06
{{Railway stations served by Abellio Greater Anglia Railway stations in Essex DfT Category B stations Transport in the Borough of Brentwood Former Great Eastern Railway stations Greater Anglia franchise railway stations Railway stations served by the Elizabeth line William Neville Ashbee railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1843 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1850 Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1887