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
Fare zone	C
National Rail annual entry and exit
2007–08	3.025 million[1]
2008–09	3.008 million[1]
2009–10	2.856 million[1]
2010–11	2.936 million[1]
2011–12	2.991 million[1]
2012–13	3.131 million[1]
2013–14	3.314 million[1]
Railway companies
Original company	Eastern Counties Railway
Pre-grouping	Great Eastern Railway
Post-grouping	London and North Eastern Railway
Key dates
29 March 1843 (1843-03-29)	Opened as Shenfield
March 1850	Closed
1 January 1887	Reopened as Shenfield and Hutton Junction
20 February 1969	Renamed Shenfield
Other information
Lists of stations	DLR Underground National Rail Tramlink
External links	Departures Layout Facilities Buses
London Transport portal UK Railways portalCoordinates: 51°37′51″N 0°19′47″E / 51.6307°N 0.3297°E / 51.6307; 0.3297

Shenfield railway station is on the Great Eastern Main Line and Shenfield to Southend Line in the East of England, serving the town of Shenfield, Essex. It is approximately 20 miles (32 km) north-east of 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, and is a major connection station for medium distance services to and from Southend Victoria, Southminster and Southend Airport and long-distance services to and from Chelmsford, Ipswich, Colchester Town, Clacton-on-Sea, Braintree and Witham. From 2018 Shenfield will also be the eastern terminus of the Crossrail line to Reading and London Heathrow Airport (the Crossrail service will begin operating between Liverpool Street and Shenfield from May 2015).

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 and 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.^[2] The suffix of "and Hutton Junction" in the station name was removed on 20 February 1969.^[3]

The station is 20 miles (32 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.

Shenfield gained Oyster card readers for pay-as-you-go journeys from 2 January 2013.^[4]

Today, Shenfield is served by fast trains on the mainline towards London and it is also the eastern terminus of the stopping "metro" service from Liverpool Street. From 2018, Shenfield will additionally form the eastern terminus of Crossrail, although the service will replace the existng "metro" trains from May 2015.^[5]

Ten-carriage Crossrail trains will run over the pair of 'electric lines', rather than the mainlines, 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.^[6] 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,^[6][7] which will be built to the north of platform 5, replacing one of the existing three western sidings.^[8] The two remaining western sidings and three new eastern sidings will also be used by Crossrail.^[8] 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.^[8]

Services

The following services currently call at Shenfield:

The Monday-Saturday off-peak service is:

• 13 trains per hour to London Liverpool Street, of which:
  • 5 call at Stratford
  • 2 call at Romford and Stratford
  • 6 call at all stations (operated by a Class 315)

• 3 tph to Southend Victoria, calling at all stations (normally operated by a Class 321; not operated by a Class 360)

• 1 tph to Braintree, calling at Ingatestone, Chelmsford, Witham, then all stations. Normally always operated by a Class 321, occasionally operated by a Class 360. Not usually operated by a Class 315.

• 1 tph to Clacton, calling at Ingatestone, Chelmsford, Witham, Colchester (North), Wivenhoe and Thorpe-le-Soken. Normally operated by a Class 360, also operated by a Class 321. Not usually operated by a Class 315.

• 1 tph to Colchester Town, calling at Chelmsford, Witham then all stations. Normally operated by a Class 360, also operated by a Class 321. Not usually operated by a Class 315.

• 1 tph to Ipswich, calling at Chelmsford then all stations. Normally operated by a Class 360, also operated by a Class 321. Not usually operated by a Class 315.

On Sundays this is reduced to:

• 6 tph to London, of which:
  • 2 call at Stratford
  • 2 call at Brentwood, Harold Wood, Gidea Park, Romford and Stratford
  • 2 call at all stations

• 2 tph to Southend Victoria, calling at Billericay, Wickford, Rayleigh, Hockley, Rochford and Southend Airport.

• 1 tph to Clacton-on-Sea, calling at Chelmsford, Witham, Marks Tey, Colchester (North), Wivenhoe, Alresford (Essex), Great Bentley and Thorpe-le-Soken

• 1 tph to Ipswich, calling at all stations.

References

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

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Brentwood		Abellio Greater Anglia Great Eastern Main Line Shenfield Metro		Terminus
Romford		Abellio Greater Anglia Great Eastern Main Line		Ingatestone
Stratford				Chelmsford
Stratford		Abellio Greater Anglia Great Eastern Main Line Braintree Branch Line		Ingatestone
				Chelmsford
Romford		Abellio Greater Anglia Great Eastern Main Line Shenfield to Southend Line Crouch Valley Line		Billericay
Stratford
Stratford		Dutchflyer		Chelmsford
	Future development
Brentwood towards Reading or Heathrow Airport		Crossrail Line 1		Terminus