Chingford railway station

Chingford
Chingford Location of Chingford in Greater London
Location	Chingford
Local authority	London Borough of Waltham Forest
Managed by	London Overground
Station code	CHI
DfT category	C2
Number of platforms	3
Accessible	Yes
Fare zone	5
National Rail annual entry and exit
2011–12	1.391 million
2012–13	1.492 million
2013–14	1.649 million
2014–15	1.767 million
2015–16	1.918 million
Key dates
1873	Opened
1878	Relocated
Other information
Lists of stations	DLR Underground National Rail Tramlink
External links	Departures Layout Facilities Buses
WGS84	51°37′59″N 0°00′34″E / 51.6331°N 0.0094°E / 51.6331; 0.0094Coordinates: 51°37′59″N 0°00′34″E / 51.6331°N 0.0094°E / 51.6331; 0.0094

Chingford railway station is a railway station serving the north-east London suburb of Chingford, and is located at the end of the Chingford Branch Line on the Lea Valley Lines network. The station, and all trains serving it have been operated by London Overground since 2015.

The Eastern Counties Railway had begun its venture into a main line railway that would head north to compete with the Great Northern. Limited funds and incessant squabbling had slowed its progress. After the merger with several other lines, the ECR became part of the Great Eastern Railway. The GER planned a network of lines to serve countryside around London by its Metropolitan Station and Railways Act of 1864. It also planned a line to High Beach, to serve Epping Forest, which reached a terminus in Bull Lane (now Kings Road) at the very end of Hale End Road (now Larkshall Road) in Chingford, in 1873. In 1878 the small station (named 'Chingford Green') near to the village green was replaced by a much more grandiose station on the very edge of town, overlooking the forest. The extension of the railway by only 600 yards (550 m) to a place far less useful to the local population was an attempt to trap tourist traffic to the forest, and to stimulate suburban growth in the fields surrounding it. The line was doubled and the new station built as a through station, with its platforms and tracks leading out onto an embankment ready to leap across the newly named Station Road and enter the forest.

The railway fostered new interest in the forest as a destination and the popularity of this Crown land and its impending loss to development was not unnoticed. In 1882 Queen Victoria came by train to Chingford and declared the forest open to the public forever. The railway that had encouraged so much interest and carried the Royal party to the very edge of town was now stumped as any new development on the forest lands would be strictly controlled. However, the Chingford Rise Estate company developed land to the south with large villas, some of which now sell for over £1 million.

Chingford became a commuter terminal and was eventually truncated to make way for a bus station. The line no longer towers over the forest, but hides quietly behind the bustle of Station Road, its electric trains now transporting workers into the city rather than helping the masses to escape it.