Leytonstone tube station

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"Leytonstone station" redirects here. For the London Overground station, see Leytonstone High Road railway station.

Leytonstone London Underground
Eastern entrance on Church Lane
LocationLeytonstone
Local authorityLondon Borough of Waltham Forest
Managed byLondon Underground
Number of platforms3
Fare zone3 and 4
OSILeytonstone High Road London Overground[1]
London Underground annual entry and exit
2018Decrease 10.05 million[2]
2019Decrease 9.82 million[3]
2020Decrease 5.65 million[4]
2021Decrease 4.26 million[5]
2022Increase 6.70 million[6]
Key dates
22 August 1856Opened
1 September 1955Goods yard closed[7]
Other information
External links
London transport portal

Leytonstone is a London Underground station on the Central line, on the boundary of Zones 3 and 4. Towards London the next station is Leyton, while going east from Leytonstone, the line divides into two branches. On the direct route to Woodford and Epping the next stop is Snaresbrook, and on the Hainault loop it is Wanstead.

History

The station was opened by the Eastern Counties Railway on 22 August 1856. In turn it became, from 1862, part of the Great Eastern Railway system and then in 1923 part of the London & North Eastern Railway before being transferred to London Transport in 1947. This formed part of the "New Works Programme 1935 – 1940" that was to see major changes at Leytonstone with the station becoming the junction of the existing Epping branch, newly electrified, with the new tube tunnel running under Eastern Avenue towards Newbury Park. This work saw a complete reconstruction of the station along with the removal of the level crossing at Church Lane and its replacement by an underbridge. The work stopped in May 1940 due to wartime priorities; further delays were caused by the station buildings being hit by a German bomb in January 1944. During the war, the new tunnels were used as an aircraft component factory; the part closest to Leytonstone was a public air-raid shelter.[8]

The station was first served by the Central line on 5 May 1947 when it became the temporary terminus of the line, passengers changing on to steam shuttle onwards to Epping. This ceased on 14 December 1947 with the extension of Underground services to Woodford and Newbury Park.

Notable events

In honour of the centenary of the birth of film director Alfred Hitchcock (born 13 August 1899 in Leytonstone), the London Borough of Waltham Forest commissioned the Greenwich Mural Workshop to create a series of mosaics of Hitchcock's life and works in the tube station. Work was started in June 2000 and unveiled 3 May 2001.

Three people were stabbed inside the station's ticket hall during the evening of 5 December 2015, with one person suffering serious knife injuries. The Metropolitan Police arrested the attacker inside the station after using Tasers against him. They subsequently announced that the stabbings were being treated as a 'terrorist incident' and a counter-terrorism operation had been launched.[9] Video footage later emerged of the attacker repeatedly shouting "this is for Syria", in reference to the Royal Air Force's bombing of ISIL targets in Syria, which began on 3 December following parliamentary approval.[10]

The station today

The station has three platforms. The centre platform is generally used for through services going westbound, but can be used to terminate trains from both directions. However, due to the configuration of the tracks, trains going eastbound from this platform can only access the Epping branch. Trains needing access to the Hainault branch can do so by shunting west of the station, and then running into the normal eastbound platform via a crossover.

Connections

London Buses routes 66, 145, 257, 339, W13, W14, W15, W16 and W19 and night route N8 serve the station and bus station.

Gallery

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Leytonstone tube station.
  • The westbound platforms at Leytonstone, looking west
    The westbound platforms at Leytonstone, looking west
  • View of platforms
    View of platforms
  • Leytonstone junction, showing the diverge between Epping and Hainault branches, the latter diverging and heading underground
    Leytonstone junction, showing the diverge between Epping and Hainault branches, the latter diverging and heading underground
  • Western entrance facing Grove Green Road and bus stand.
    Western entrance facing Grove Green Road and bus stand.

References

  1. ^ "Out-of-Station Interchanges" (Microsoft Excel). Transport for London. 2 January 2016. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
  2. ^ "Station Usage Data" (CSV). Usage Statistics for London Stations, 2018. Transport for London. 23 September 2020. Archived from the original on 14 January 2023. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  3. ^ "Station Usage Data" (XLSX). Usage Statistics for London Stations, 2019. Transport for London. 23 September 2020. Archived from the original on 9 November 2020. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  4. ^ "Station Usage Data" (XLSX). Usage Statistics for London Stations, 2020. Transport for London. 16 April 2021. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
  5. ^ "Station Usage Data" (XLSX). Usage Statistics for London Stations, 2021. Transport for London. 12 July 2022. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  6. ^ "Station Usage Data" (XLSX). Usage Statistics for London Stations, 2022. Transport for London. 4 October 2023. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  7. ^ Hardy, Brian, ed. (March 2011). "How it used to be – freight on The Underground 50 years ago". Underground News (591). London Underground Railway Society: 175–183. ISSN 0306-8617.
  8. ^ How the Railway Came to Leytonstone, Alan Simpson, Leyton & Leytonstone Historical Society 2006
  9. ^ "Leytonstone Tube station stabbing a 'terrorist incident'". BBC News.
  10. ^ "Syria air strikes: RAF Tornado jets carry out bombing". BBC News.

External links

Preceding station   London Underground   Following station
Template:LUL lines
Epping branch
Template:LUL lines
Hainault loop
  Out of system interchange  
Preceding station   London Overground   Following station
Template:LOG lines
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