Shenfield railway station

Shenfield
Shenfield Location of Shenfield in Essex
Location	Shenfield
Local authority	Borough of Brentwood
Grid reference	TQ613949
Managed by	Abellio Greater Anglia
Station code	SNF
DfT category	B
Number of platforms	5
Accessible	Yes [1]
Fare zone	C
National Rail annual entry and exit
2011–12	2.991 million[2]
2012–13	3.131 million[2]
2013–14	3.314 million[2]
– interchange	1.895 million[2]
2014–15	3.488 million[2]
– interchange	1.618 million[2]
Railway companies
Original company	Eastern Counties Railway
Pre-grouping	Great Eastern Railway
Post-grouping	London and North Eastern Railway
Key dates
29 March 1843	Opened as Shenfield
March 1850	Closed
1 January 1887	Reopened as Shenfield & Hutton Junction
20 February 1969	Renamed Shenfield
Other information
Lists of stations	DLR Underground National Rail Tramlink
External links	Departures Layout Facilities Buses
WGS84	51°37′51″N 0°19′47″E / 51.6307°N 0.3297°ECoordinates: 51°37′51″N 0°19′47″E / 51.6307°N 0.3297°E
London Transport portal UK Railways portal

Shenfield railway station is on the Great Eastern Main Line and is also the western terminus of the Shenfield to Southend Line in the East of England, serving the town of Shenfield, Essex. It is 20 miles 16 chains (32.5 km) down-line from London Liverpool Street and is between Brentwood to the west and Ingatestone and Billericay to the east. Its three-letter station code is SNF.

The station was opened in 1843 and has since expanded from its original three platforms to the current five. It is the eastern terminus of the Liverpool Street-Shenfield "metro" service operated by TfL Rail, and it is also an interchange station for many Abellio Greater Anglia medium-distance services to and from Southend Victoria, Southminster, Chelmsford, Witham and Braintree, as well as longer-distance services to and from Harwich Town, Ipswich, Colchester Town and Clacton-on-Sea. From 2019 Shenfield will also become the eastern terminus of the Crossrail line to Reading and London Heathrow Airport.

History

Shenfield station was opened by the Eastern Counties Railway company on 29 March 1843 on the extension from Brentwood to Colchester. As it was situated in a rural area, patronage was low, so it was closed in March 1850. It reopened with the name Shenfield & Hutton Junction on 1 January 1887 under the Great Eastern Railway to serve as an interchange station with the new line to Southend that was completed two years later. There were three platforms, two up (London-bound) and one down (country-bound). Under the London and North Eastern Railway, two extra tracks for terminating local (suburban "metro") trains opened in 1934, resulting in the current five platforms.

The 1920 survey of the station shows good sidings and a turntable on the London side of the up platforms. The goods yard was closed on 4 May 1964 and it became the station's car park.^[3] The Hutton Junction suffix in the station's name was removed on 20 February 1969.^[4]

The station is 20 miles 16 chains (32.5 km) down line from Liverpool Street. Immediately west of the station is Brentwood bank, which descends steeply in the up (London) direction. This bank presented a significant climb to steam trains. There are extensive sidings on the London side of the station just before the start of the descent down the bank.

To the east of the station, the lines for Southend diverge with the down line passing under the main line towards Norwich. West of Shenfield there are five tracks, but to the east these split, two towards Colchester and two towards Southend Victoria.

Oyster card readers were installed for pay-as-you-go journeys in 2013.^[5]

Today, Shenfield is served by fast trains on the main line towards London and it is also the eastern terminus of the stopping "metro" service from Liverpool Street. From 2019, Shenfield will additionally form the eastern terminus of Crossrail, although the precursor company TfL Rail took over the existing "metro" service in May 2015.^[6]

Nine-carriage Crossrail trains will run over the pair of 'electric lines', rather than the main lines, replacing the existing eight-carriage "metro" trains and allowing Crossrail to serve all stations between Shenfield and Liverpool Street, continuing west towards Reading and London Heathrow Airport.^[7] At peak hours the frequency of service will increase from eight trains per hour to 12, necessitating the construction of a new 210-metre long platform 6,^[7][8] which will be built to the north of platform 5, replacing one of the existing three western sidings.^[9] The two remaining western sidings and three new eastern sidings will also be used by Crossrail.^[9] It is estimated that Crossrail will cut morning peak journey times by up to seven minutes although there will be no reduction to some journey times.^[9]

Services

The typical off-peak service pattern at Shenfield is:

• 13 trains per hour (tph) to London Liverpool Street, of which:
  • 5 call at Stratford only,
  • 2 call at Romford and Stratford,
  • 6 call at all intermediate stations;
• 3 tph to Southend Victoria, calling at all intermediate stations;
• 1 tph to Braintree, calling at Ingatestone, Chelmsford, Witham, then all intermediate stations;
• 1 tph to Clacton-on-Sea, calling at Ingatestone, Chelmsford, Witham, Colchester, Wivenhoe and Thorpe-le-Soken;
• 1 tph to Colchester Town, calling at Chelmsford, Witham then all intermediate stations;
• 1 tph to Ipswich, calling at Chelmsford then all intermediate stations.

During peak times, service frequencies may be increased and calling patterns varied. Service frequencies are generally reduced on Sundays.

References

1. "Step free Tube Guide" (PDF). Transport for London. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 June 2015.
2. "Station usage estimates". Rail statistics. Office of Rail Regulation. Please note: Some methodology may vary year on year.
3. Mitchell, Victor E. (April 2011). Eastern Main Lines - Shenfield to Ipswich. Midhurst: Middleton Press. Plan II. ISBN 978 1 906008 96 3.
4. Mitchell 2011, Plate 4
5. "Commissioners report" (PDF). TFL. December 2012. Retrieved December 2012. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
6. "Capital's key services protected, says Johnson". The Press Association. 20 October 2010. Retrieved 21 October 2010.
7. CROSSRAIL INFORMATION PAPER A7 – SELECTION OF THE NORTH EASTERN TERMINUS
8. Environmental Baseline and Assessment of Impacts – North East Route Section
9. Chapter 18 - Route Window NE17 - Shenfield station

External links

• Train times and station information for Shenfield railway station from National Rail
• Excel file displaying National Rail station usage information for 2005/06