Ilford railway station
Ilford railway station is on the Great Eastern Main Line serving Ilford town centre in the London Borough of Redbridge, east London. It is down the line from London Liverpool Street and is situated between and. 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 -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 and Heathrow Airport.
History
Ilford railway station was opened on 20 June 1839 by the Eastern Counties Railway, along with the Mile End to 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 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.
Layout
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 ends of the platforms can be reached via a footbridge. This entrance was refurbished in 2016.The station has four operational platforms: two "up" and two "down". 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 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 will be replaced as part of the Crossrail programme.
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 |