Upminster station

Upminster is an interchange station serving the town of Upminster in the London Borough of Havering, Greater London. It is on the London, Tilbury and Southend line (LTSR), 15 miles 20 chains (24.5 km) down the line from London Fenchurch Street; it is the eastern terminus of the District line on the London Underground; and it is the eastern terminus of the Romford to Upminster Line on the London Overground network. Upminster is the easternmost station on the London Underground network as well as the easternmost National Rail station in London.

Upminster
The side entrance to Upminster station (outdated signage)
Upminster Location of Upminster in Greater London
Location	Upminster
Local authority	London Borough of Havering
Managed by	c2c
Owner	Network Rail
Station code	UPM
DfT category	C2
Number of platforms	7
Accessible	Yes (except platform 6)^[1]^[2]
Fare zone	6
London Underground annual entry and exit
2018	4.65 million^[3]
2019	4.76 million^[4]
2020	2.44 million^[5]
2021	2.21 million^[6]
2022	3.77 million^[7]
National Rail annual entry and exit
2018–19	5.910 million^[8]
– interchange	1.003 million^[8]
2019–20	5.842 million^[8]
– interchange	1.046 million^[8]
2020–21	1.786 million^[8]
– interchange	0.343 million^[8]
2021–22	3.711 million^[8]
– interchange	0.690 million^[8]
2022–23	4.406 million^[8]
– interchange	0.765 million^[8]
Railway companies
Original company	London, Tilbury and Southend Railway
Pre-grouping	Midland Railway
Post-grouping	London, Midland and Scottish Railway
Key dates
1 May 1885	Opened
1902	District line started
1905	District line paused
1932	District line resumed
Other information
External links	TfL station info page Departures Layout Facilities Buses
Coordinates	51°33′32″N 0°15′04″E / 51.559°N 0.2511°E / 51.559; 0.2511
London transport portal

The station is managed by c2c, which operates the LTSR main line services. The station was opened in 1885 by the LTSR; its original entrance and structure beside the main line platforms survive from that date. A larger entrance and ticket hall on Station Road was built by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway in 1932 and has since been extensively modernised and includes a number of retail units. Today the station is owned by Network Rail. Upminster is located within Travelcard Zone 6.

History

The London Tilbury and Southend Railway (LTSR) connected the City of London and its terminal station at Fenchurch Street with the port at Tilbury Dock in 1854, extending out to the seaside town of Southend in 1856. The route to Southend was not direct, taking a considerable diversion in order to serve the docks at Tilbury. Between 1885 and 1888 a new direct route from Barking to Pitsea was constructed, with the station at Upminster opening on 1 May 1885.^[9] The next station to the east was East Horndon (now called West Horndon) and to the west was Hornchurch.^[9]

Branches were opened by the LTSR to Grays in 1892 and Romford in 1893. The Whitechapel and Bow Railway opened in 1902 and allowed through-services of the Metropolitan District Railway to operate on the LTSR line to Upminster.^[10] The District Railway converted to electric trains in 1905 and services were lost at Upminster when they were curtailed at East Ham^[11] due to the tracks between that station and Upminster not yet having been electrified.^[10] The LTSR was purchased by Midland Railway in 1912 and was amalgamated into the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSR) from 1 January 1923.

The District Railway electric service extended eastward as far as Barking in 1908.^[10] Delayed by World War I,^[9] an additional pair of electrified tracks were extended by the LMSR and services of the District continued to Upminster in 1932.^[10][11][12] The District Railway was incorporated into London Transport in 1933, and became known as the District line. A new station at Upminster Bridge on the District line became the next station to the west in 1934.^[11] After nationalisation of the railways in 1948, management of Upminster station passed to British Railways.

Design

 

London Underground signal box at Upminster.

The station was greatly expanded in 1932 by the LMSR and the main station building, the two footbridges and the buildings on the remaining platforms were constructed in typical 1930s style. A further platform for services to Romford was a later addition. The primary station building, which gives access to the main Station Road, has been extensively redeveloped in contemporary style and includes three retail units. The original Victorian station structures remaining beside the main-line platform 1 have been refurbished and now include a secondary ticket office and waiting room^[2] with an exit to Station Approach and the car-park. The original platforms were linked by a subway which has since been abandoned. Step-free access is available to all platforms with the exception of platform 6, for the Romford branch line.^[1][2]

 

Floodlight tower at the Upminster depot which illuminates the whole site and can be seen miles beyond.

The station is the location of a London Underground signal box at the eastern end of the platforms and, several hundred yards further east, the modern signal control centre for all main-line operations on the LTSR.^[13] Further beyond the station to the east is Upminster Depot, one of the main railway depots for the District line.^[14]

Platforms

v t e London Overground
Cheshunt       Theobalds Grove   Enfield Town         Turkey Street     Romford       Bush Hill Park         Southbury       Emerson Park             Upminster       Edmonton Green   Silver Street     Chingford White Hart Lane     Highams Park   Watford Junction   Bruce Grove       Wood Street     Watford       Seven Sisters           Walthamstow Central       High Street Harringay       Blackhorse Road           Walthamstow Queen's Road   Bushey   Green Lanes                                                               Carpenders Park Crouch Hill       South Tottenham           St. James     Leyton Midland Road   Hatch End     Upper ( )   Stamford Hill           Street     Leytonstone   Headstone Lane         Holloway Stoke Newington         Clapton     High Road     Harrow &                   Kentish Town West   Rectory Road           Wanstead Park ( )     Wealdstone Gospel Oak       Camden Road ( )         Hackney     Woodgrange Park   Kenton ( ) Caledonian Road         Canonbury         Downs     Barking       South Kenton & Barnsbury                                                       Barking Riverside ( )     North     Highbury & Islington               Dalston Kingsland       Hackney Central           Wembley   Hampstead Heath       Dalston             Wembley     Finchley Road & Frognal ( )     Junction       London Fields         Central   West Hampstead (   ) Haggerston           Cambridge   Homerton     Stonebridge   Brondesbury Hoxton               Heath   Hackney Wick     Park   Brondesbury Park Shoreditch High Street                 Bethnal Green   Stratford           Harlesden     Kensal Rise                                         Kensal Green         Liverpool         Whitechapel             Willesden         Queen's Park     Street       Shadwell ( )       Junction     Kilburn High Road     Wapping             South Hampstead     Rotherhithe           Shepherd's Bush   ( )       Euston     ( )   Canada Water         Kensington (Olympia)       Surrey Quays       West Brompton       Battersea Park               Imperial Wharf ( )       (limited service)           New Cross     Clapham         Queens Road Peckham             New Cross Gate   Junction                               Peckham Rye         Brockley   Acton Central Wandsworth Road           Denmark Hill         Honor Oak Park   South Acton ( ) Clapham                     Forest Hill   Gunnersbury   High Street   Sydenham     Kew Gardens       Richmond     Crystal Palace       Penge West   Anerley   Norwood Junction       West Croydon   ( )
Legend
Station   National Rail   Liberty line   Accessible station   Thameslink   Lioness line   Interchange station   Elizabeth line   Mildmay line   Accessible interchange   Docklands Light Railway   Suffragette line   London Underground   Weaver line   Internal interchange   London Trams   Windrush line   Out-of-station interchange   London River Services The new London Overground line names and colours are to be introduced across the London rail network in autumn 2024

 

Class 357 Electrostar at Upminster

 

A London Overground train awaiting departure for Romford from Platform 6

• Platform 1A, a bay platform, is only used during engineering works that cause c2c to operate a shuttle between Upminster & Grays. It is only accessible by trains arriving from the branch and leaving to the branch.
• Platform 1 for services to Fenchurch Street and Liverpool Street.
• Platform 2 for Grays, Southend and Shoeburyness.
• Platforms 3, 4 and 5 are served by the District line.
• Platform 6 is used for shuttle service to/from Romford, operated by London Overground.

Services

The typical off-peak Monday to Friday service of trains per hour (tph) is:

• London Underground, District line:
  • 6tph to Richmond;^[15][10]
  • 6tph to Ealing Broadway.^[10][15]
• c2c, main-line:^[16]
  • 4tph to London Fenchurch Street;
  • 2tph to Shoeburyness via Basildon;
  • 2tph to Southend Central via Ockendon.
• London Overground, Romford to Upminster Line:
  • 2tph to Romford.

Connections

London Buses routes 248, 346, 347, 370 and school routes 646 and 652 serve the station.^[17]

References

1. "Step free Tube Guide" (PDF). Transport for London. April 2021. (PDF) from the original on 15 May 2021.
2. Our route – Upminster
3. "Station Usage Data" (CSV). Usage Statistics for London Stations, 2018. Transport for London. 23 September 2020. from the original on 14 January 2023. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
4. "Station Usage Data" (XLSX). Usage Statistics for London Stations, 2019. Transport for London. 23 September 2020. from the original on 9 November 2020. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
5. "Station Usage Data" (XLSX). Usage Statistics for London Stations, 2020. Transport for London. 16 April 2021. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
6. "Station Usage Data" (XLSX). Usage Statistics for London Stations, 2021. Transport for London. 12 July 2022. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
7. "Station Usage Data" (XLSX). Usage Statistics for London Stations, 2022. Transport for London. 4 October 2023. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
8. "Estimates of station usage". Rail statistics. Office of Rail Regulation. Please note: Some methodology may vary year on year.
9. "London, Tilbury and Southend Railway" (PDF), Local Studies Information Sheets, Barking and Dagenham London Borough Council, 2008, archived from the original (PDF) on 11 February 2010, retrieved 12 January 2010
10. Clive's Underground Line Guides – District line
11. Douglas Rose (1999). The London Underground: A diagrammatic history (7 ed.). Douglas Rose. ISBN 1-85414-219-4.
12. Wolmar, Christian (2005). The Subterranean Railway: How the London Underground Was Built and How It Changed the City Forever. Atlantic Books. p. 268. ISBN 1-84354-023-1.

May 03, 2024