Ilford railway station

Ilford railway station is a suburban National Rail station located in Ilford in the London Borough of Redbridge. Passenger services are operated by Greater Anglia and most trains run between Shenfield and Liverpool Street. The station is located in Travelcard Zone 4.

History
The station was opened on 20 June 1839 by the Eastern Counties Railway, along with the Mile End (temporary terminus) to Romford section of what was to become the Great Eastern Main Line. Between 1903 and 1947, trains also ran through to Woodford via Hainault via the Fairlop Loop, most of which was transferred to London Underground's Central line. The triangular junction (Seven Kings being the third point of the triangle) is now the site of the Ilford Carriage Sheds and also a Maintenance Depot at present operated by Bombardier. Freight trains used the connection from the Fairlop Loop to Seven Kings until 1956.

On New Years Day 1915 the station was the scene of a collision in which 10 people were killed. Lieutenant-Colonel Frank Heilgers, a British Member of Parliament was one of nine people killed in the 1944 Ilford rail crash.

Layout
The main entrance is in Cranbrook Road, which was heavily rebuilt during the 1980s, with architecture in keeping with other contemporary buildings in Ilford, such as the Central Library. This stretch of Cranbrook Road was originally called Station Road but this name was transferred to a short portion of Havelock Street immediately opposite the station. There is also a rear entrance from York Road, open peak hours only, from which the west (London) ends of the Platforms can be reached via a footbridge. This entrance is convenient for access from north and west of the station.

The station has five platforms, two "up" (headed west into Liverpool Street) and two "down" (towards Shenfield). The fifth platform, platform 5, is a bay platform, allowing peak services into London to start at Ilford – very useful, as many peak trains from Shenfield are already full by the time they reach Ilford in the mornings. Platforms 1 and 2 are disused, except during engineering works and line disruptions, as the two adjacent tracks are used for fast trains that do not call at suburban stations. Immediately to the west of the station is a flyover that allows the fast tracks to change from being on the south side of the suburban tracks to being on the north. The tracks cross the River Roding at the same point, and pass under the North Circular Road.

The platforms are several metres below street-level, as the road rises up to pass over the railway line. The north side of the station is edged by an embankment lined with housing. The south side is lined with large buildings (the Valentine house office building, the former British Gas building now converted to residential use and a large British Telecom building, whose rooftop logo can be seen from passing trains) and platform level approximates to street level by the far end of the station. Despite the steps to the platforms, wheelchair lifts are available by prior arrangement. There are 2 access stairways from the concourse to Platforms 3 and 4 (platform 3 being the London-bound platform and therefore the most crowded. This is in order to segregate arriving and departing passengers. The down staircase goes immediately from the concourse to the station platform whilst the up staircase rises from approximately 100m along the platform and is connected by an elevated walkway to the concourse. A second entrance and footbridge from York Road is open for passengers during the morning and evening peak periods (06:00-10:00 and 16:00-19:00). This is convenient for access to the residential area at the west end of the station and also, via the Mill Road tunnel, to the commercial buildings south of the railway line.

An access road from Ilford Hill to the station at platform level is now the station car park (no access to adjacent Platform 1).

Train Services
The following service is the typical off peak service:

Services
Ilford is the first of the better served stations east of Stratford, as the intermediary stations are not served by all inner suburban trains. It is planned that Crossrail trains will call at Ilford in 2018. Ilford will be the northern terminus of phase one of the East London Transit.

Transport links
London Bus routes 147, School Bus routes 667, 679 and Night routes N86. And also: