Gidea Park railway station

Gidea Park
Gidea Park railway station in 2007
Gidea Park Location of Gidea Park in Greater London
Location	Gidea Park
Local authority	London Borough of Havering
Managed by	TfL Rail
Station code	GDP
DfT category	C2
Number of platforms	4
Fare zone	6
National Rail annual entry and exit
2010–11	2.467 million[1]
2011–12	2.524 million[1]
2012–13	2.587 million[1]
2013–14	2.811 million[1]
2014–15	2.945 million[1]
Key dates
1910	Opened as Squirrels Heath & Gidea Park
1913	Renamed Gidea Park & Squirrels Heath
20 Feb. 1969[2]	Renamed Gidea Park
Other information
Lists of stations	DLR Underground National Rail Tramlink
External links	Departures Layout Facilities Buses
WGS84	51°34′55″N 0°12′23″E / 51.582°N 0.2063°ECoordinates: 51°34′55″N 0°12′23″E / 51.582°N 0.2063°E
London Transport portal UK Railways portal

Gidea Park railway station is on the Great Eastern Main Line, serving the neighbourhood of Gidea Park in the London Borough of Havering, east London. It is 13 miles 41 chains (21.7 km) down-line from London Liverpool Street and is situated between Romford and Harold Wood. Its three-letter station code is GDP and it is in Travelcard zone 6.

The station is currently managed by TfL Rail. The vast majority of services call at Gidea Park as part of the Shenfield-Liverpool Street stopping "metro" service, but limited Abellio Greater Anglia services for Southend Victoria also call on Sundays. From 2019, Gidea Park will be fully served by Crossrail, linking it directly to additional stations in central London as well as Reading and London Heathrow Airport.^[3] TfL Rail, the precursor of Crossrail, took over the running of the Shenfield "metro" in May 2015.

History

The station was opened as Squirrels Heath & Gidea Park on 1 December 1910 by the Great Eastern Railway on the company's main line from London Liverpool Street. The name was switched to Gidea Park & Squirrels Heath in late 1913, but the "Squirrels Heath" suffix was dropped some time later.^[4]

On the evening of 2 January 1947, an express Liverpool Street-Peterborough train over-ran a signal at 'danger' in dense fog and collided with a Liverpool Street-Southend Victoria train as it started to depart from Gidea Park.^[5] Seven people were killed in the crash and 45 were hospitalised.^[6]

External video

Footage of the aftermath of the 1947 crash at Gidea Park - British Pathé

Services

The following services typically call at Gidea Park during off-peak hours. Frequency is increased during peak times.^[7] Additionally, each day there is one early-morning and one late-night service from and to Colchester operated by Abellio Greater Anglia.

Operator	Route	Rolling stock	Typical frequency	Notes
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	6x per hour
Abellio Greater Anglia	London Liverpool Street - Stratford - Romford - Gidea Park - Harold Wood - Brentwood - Shenfield - Billericay - Wickford - Rayleigh - Hockley - Rochford - Southend Airport - Southend Victoria	Class 321	2x per hour	Sundays only

In 2017 new Class 345 trains will enter service as Crossrail partially opens. The route will be extended through central London to London Heathrow Airport and Reading in 2019. The platforms at Gidea Park will be extended from their current length of 184 metres (201 yd) to accommodate the new Crossrail trains which will be over 200 metres (220 yd) long. New lifts, signage, help points, customer information screens and CCTV will also be installed, and the footbridge and carriage sidings will be refurbished.

Connections

London Buses routes 294, 496, 649, 650 and 674 serve the station.

References

1. "Station usage estimates". Rail statistics. Office of Rail Regulation. Please note: Some methodology may vary year on year.
2. Chronology of London Railways by H.V.Borley
3. "TfL Launches Competition to Find Operator to Run Crossrail Services". Transport for London. 12 March 2013. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
4. http://www.romfordrecorder.co.uk/news/feature_havering_s_lifeline_rail_service_the_liverpool_street_to_shenfield_line_1_1807296
5. http://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/documents/MoT_Gidea1947.pdf
6. Earnshaw, Alan (1991). Trains in Trouble: Vol. 7. Penryn: Atlantic Books. p. 30. ISBN 0-906899-50-8.
7. https://tfl.gov.uk/cdn/static/cms/documents/liverpool-street-romford-shenfield-v4.pdf TfL Rail Timetable

External links

• Train times and station information for Gidea Park railway station from National Rail