Wood Street railway station

Wood Street
Wood Street Location of Wood Street in Greater London
Location	Walthamstow
Local authority	London Borough of Waltham Forest
Managed by	London Overground
Station code	WST
DfT category	D
Number of platforms	2
Fare zone	4
National Rail annual entry and exit
2004–05	0.418 million[1]
2011–12	0.750 million[1]
2012–13	0.786 million[1]
2013–14	0.862 million[1]
2014–15	0.972 million[1]
Key dates
1873	Opened
Other information
Lists of stations	DLR Underground National Rail Tramlink
External links	Departures Layout Facilities Buses
WGS84	51°35′11″N 0°00′08″W / 51.5864°N 0.0021°WCoordinates: 51°35′11″N 0°00′08″W / 51.5864°N 0.0021°W
London Transport portal UK Railways portal

Wood Street railway station is in Upper Walthamstow, in Waltham Forest, north east London. It is in Travelcard Zone 4, and the station and all trains are operated by London Overground. It is also occasionally known as Walthamstow Wood Street. The station is located on the Chingford Branch Line and is part of the Lea Valley Lines network.

History

The station was opened in 1873 by the Great Eastern Railway.^[2]

On 13 February 1919 there was an accident at Wood Street when a passenger train ran into an empty stock train. Five people were injured – none seriously. The cause was a signal failure.^[3]

In 1923 the Great Eastern Railway became part of the London and North Eastern Railway.

In 1948 British Railways Eastern Region took over operation of the line following nationalisation.

The engine shed was closed in 1960 when the line was electrified. Electric services commenced on 12 November 1960. Early services were formed of Class 305 EMUs but initial technical problems with these saw replacements by Class 302 and Class 304 EMUs.^[4]

To the north of these there were a number of carriage sidings located either side of the tracks.

Until a last-minute decision was made in 1961, it had been intended to build the Victoria line past Walthamstow Central station to Wood Street, where the line would surface to terminate next to the British Railways station, on land previously used as a coal depot. The goods depot closed on 6 May 1968.^[5]

In April 1994 Railtrack took over responsibility for the operation of the infrastructure. Train services have been operated since then by West Anglia Great Northern, One railway, National Express East Anglia, Abellio Greater Anglia and currently in 2015 by London Overground.

Typical journey times are according to the December 2012 public timetable 7 minutes to Chingford and 19 minutes to London Liverpool Street.

Engine Shed

There was an engine shed located just north of Wood Street which was a sub-shed of Stratford TMD and was built in 1878.^[6] The engine shed was a two road affair with space for 6 tank locomotives – there was also a short siding for coal wagons. An additional siding was added c1934.^[7] By the 1950s the staff complement was 36 drivers, 36 Firemen and six Passed Cleaners although recruitment for what was a hard dirty job became more difficult during that decade.^[8]

On 1 January 1922 the allocation consisted of three GER Class M15 2-4-2Ts (later LNER Class F4), two GER Class C72 (later LNER Class J68) and eleven GER Class S56 (later LNER class J69) 0-6-0T engines.^[9]

In later years the main allocation of the shed was tank engines for working suburban services to and from London Liverpool Street and from the 1920s the allocation was exclusively the LNE N7 0-6-2T locomotives.

The shed was closed in 1960 when the line was electrified.

Miscellanea

There were previously bike racks but they were removed at some point. David Beckham is known to have used the station in his youth, he is reported to have visited the nearby Hollow Ponds often to play football.

Connections

London Buses routes 230 and W16 serve the station.

Service

The typical off-peak service is:

• 4 trains per hour to Chingford
• 4 trains per hour to Liverpool Street via Hackney

Gallery

• 
  Platforms looking towards Chingford
• 
  Platforms looking towards London
• 
  Platform signage

References

1. "Station usage estimates". Rail statistics. Office of Rail Regulation. Please note: Some methodology may vary year on year.
2. Allen, Cecil J (1955). The Great Eastern Railway. Shepperton: Ian Allan. pp. 234–239.
3. Voisey, Francis (January 2005). Great Eastern Railway Society Journal (121): 121.18–121.19. Missing or empty |title= (help)
4. Baker, John (July 1993). "Great Eastern section Electrification part 6". Great Eastern Journal (75): 29.
5. Jackson, Alan A (1999). London's Local Railways ((2nd run) ed.). Harrow Weald: Capital Transport. p. 379. ISBN 1 85414 209 7.
6. Hardy, Richard (April 2005). "Wood Street Loco – W J Barker Shed Chargeman". Great Eastern Railway Journal. 122: 122.2–122.6.
7. Hawkins, Chris (1986). Great Eastern Railway Engine Sheds Part 1. Didcot: Wild Swan. pp. 62–68. ISBN 0 906867 40 1.
8. Goodey, Peter (October 2004). Great Eastern Railway Society Journal. 104: 20. Missing or empty |title= (help)
9. Hawkins, Chris; Reeves, George (1987). Great Eastern Railway Engine Shed Part 2. Didcot UK: Wild Swan. p. 379. ISBN 0 906867 48 7.

External links

• Train times and station information for Wood Street railway station from National Rail