Gidea Park railway station

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 the 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.

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
Accessible	Yes
Fare zone	6
National Rail annual entry and exit
2014–15	2.945 million[1]
2015–16	2.861 million[1]
2016–17	2.797 million[1]
2017–18	2.711 million[1]
2018–19	2.834 million[1]
Key dates
1 December 1910	Opened as Squirrels Heath & Gidea Park
1913	Renamed Gidea Park & Squirrels Heath
20 February 1969[2]	Renamed Gidea Park
Other information
External links	Departures Layout Facilities Buses
WGS84	51.582°N 0.2063°E / 51.582; 0.2063
London transport portal

The station is currently managed by TfL Rail and is served by the Shenfield-Liverpool Street stopping "metro" service. In the future TfL Rail will be re-branded as the Elizabeth line as part of the Crossrail project. Eventually, the Elizabeth line service will be extended beyond Liverpool Street to Paddington and onwards to Reading and Heathrow Airport.

History

The station, constructed in a cutting, was opened as Squirrels Heath & Gidea Park on 1 December 1910 by the Great Eastern Railway on that company's main line out of 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.[3]

On 2 January 1947, in darkness and dense fog, an express train from London to Peterborough passed a signal at danger and collided with a stopping service bound for Southend Victoria as it started to depart from Gidea Park on the country-bound main line. The Peterborough train was travelling at an estimated 30 to 35 mph on impact, which destroyed the rear three coaches of the Southend train.[4] Seven people were killed in the crash and 45 were hospitalised. Two of the four lines through the station were reopened within two hours, and the other two followed the next day.[5]

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.[6] Additionally, there is one late-night service to Colchester operated by 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, Class 345	6x per hour	4x per hour on Sundays

In 2017, new Class 345 trains began entering service as Crossrail partially opened. 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 once extended to nine carriages. 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. Borley, H.V. Chronology of London Railways.
3. Alwakeel, Ramzy (25 January 2013). "Feature: Havering's lifeline rail service, the Liverpool Street to Shenfield line". Romford Recorder.
4. "Report on the Collision which occurred on the 2nd January, 1947, at GIDEA PARK" (PDF). Ministry of Transport. 1947 – via Railways Archive.
5. Earnshaw, Alan (1991). Trains in Trouble: Vol. 7. Penryn: Atlantic Books. p. 30. ISBN 0-906899-50-8.
6. "TfL Rail Timetable" (PDF).

External links

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

Preceding station		Crossrail		Following station
Romford towards Liverpool Street		TfL Rail Shenfield Metro		Harold Wood towards Shenfield
	Future development
Romford towards Paddington		Crossrail Elizabeth line		Harold Wood towards Shenfield