Ilford railway station

For the station in Manitoba, Canada, see Ilford railway station (Manitoba).

Ilford
Cranbrook Road entrance in 2015
Ilford Location of Ilford in Greater London
Location	Ilford
Local authority	London Borough of Redbridge
Managed by	TfL Rail
Owner	Network Rail
Station code(s)	IFD
DfT category	C2
Number of platforms	4 operational; 1 disused
Fare zone	4
National Rail annual entry and exit
2015–16	8.199 million
2016–17	8.122 million
2017–18	7.679 million
2018–19	7.942 million
2019–20	7.794 million
– interchange	18,034
Key dates
20 June 1839	Opened
Other information
External links	Departures Facilities
Coordinates	51.5592°N 0.0700°E / 51.5592; 0.0700
London transport portal

Ilford railway station is on the Great Eastern Main Line serving Ilford town centre in the London Borough of Redbridge, east London. It is 7 miles 29 chains (11.8 km) down the line from London Liverpool Street and is situated between Manor Park and Seven Kings. Its three-letter station code is IFD and it is in Travelcard zone 4.

The station was opened in 1839 by the Eastern Counties Railway. It is currently managed by TfL Rail. Services call at Ilford as part of the Shenfield-Liverpool Street stopping "metro" service. In the future the TfL Rail service will be re-branded as the Elizabeth line as part of the Crossrail project. Eventually, the Elizabeth line service will be extended beyond Liverpool Street to Paddington and onwards to Reading and Heathrow Airport.

History

Ilford railway 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 the Fairlop Loop, most of which was later transferred to London Underground's Central line. The triangular junction (Seven Kings being the third point of the triangle) is now the site of carriage sheds and a maintenance depot operated by Bombardier Transportation. Freight trains used the connection from the Fairlop Loop to Seven Kings until 1956.

On New Year's Day of 1915 the station was the scene of a major collision in which 10 people were killed.

Lieutenant-Colonel Frank Heilgers, a Member of Parliament, was one of nine people killed in the 1944 Ilford rail crash.

A dairy siding was located at Ilford siding that received milk traffic from Halesworth and North Elmham in East Anglia. This traffic ceased in the 1960s.

Layout

Ilford platform signage

Ilford railway station in 2002

The main entrance, in Cranbrook Road, 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 secondary entrance on York Road, from which the western (London) ends of the platforms can be reached via a footbridge. This entrance was refurbished in 2016.

The station has four operational platforms: two "up" (headed west toward London) and two "down" (towards Shenfield). A bay platform numbered platform 5 remains in situ but is disused as the track alongside it was removed in 2016. Regular stopping services typically use platforms 3 and 4 on the electric line between London and Shenfield, while platforms 1 and 2 are used only during engineering work and line disruptions as the two adjacent tracks are used by through-trains on the main line. Immediately to the west of the station is a flyover that allows the main line to cross over from the south side of the electric line to the north, and thus easily access the longer northern platforms at Liverpool Street without having the cross over in the station throat. The tracks cross the River Roding at the same point, and pass under the North Circular Road.

The platforms at Ilford 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 two access stairways from the concourse to platforms 3 and 4. 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 100 m along the platform and is connected by an elevated walkway to the concourse.

Ilford station building is due to be replaced as part of the Crossrail programme. The existing 1980s building closed on 25 January 2020 and demolished the following day.

Services

The typical Monday-Saturday off-peak service is six trains per hour in each direction between Liverpool Street and Shenfield, reduced on Sundays to four per hour in each direction:

Operator	Route	Rolling stock	Frequency
TfL Rail	London Liverpool Street - Stratford - Maryland - Forest Gate - Manor Park - Ilford - Seven Kings - Goodmayes - Chadwell Heath - Romford - Gidea Park - Harold Wood - Brentwood - Shenfield	Class 315, Class 345	6x per hour (4 on Sundays)

Connections

A number of London Buses routes serve the station.

External links

• Media related to Ilford railway station at Wikimedia Commons
• Train times and station information for Ilford railway station from National Rail