Shenfield Railway Station
Shenfield is a major station located in Shenfield in the borough of Brentwood in Essex, England. It lies on the Great Eastern Main Line (GEML) and links Liverpool Street station in the City of London to places in the East of England. It was first opened by the Eastern Counties Railway on 29 March 1843 on the extension from Brentwood to Colchester. As it was in a rural area, patronage was low, so it was closed in 1850, but it reopened as Shenfield & Hutton Junction on 1 January 1887 under the Great Eastern Railway to serve as an interchange with the new railway line to Southend-on-Sea 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) trains opened in 1934, giving 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 a car park.
The inclusion of "and Hutton" in the station name was discontinued in 1969.
The station is served by fast trains on the main line to London Liverpool Street and is also the eastern terminus of the Shenfield Metro service. It is planned that Crossrail will terminate here in 2018.
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 lines to Colchester. West of Shenfield there are four tracks, but to the east these split, two towards Colchester and two towards Southend.
Shenfield station gained Oyster card readers for Pay as you go journeys which will be in use from 2 January 2013.
Read more about Shenfield Railway Station: Crossrail, Train Services, Gallery, Service
Famous quotes containing the words railway and/or station:
“Her personality had an architectonic quality; I think of her when I see some of the great London railway termini, especially St. Pancras, with its soot and turrets, and she overshadowed her own daughters, whom she did not understand—my mother, who liked things to be nice; my dotty aunt. But my mother had not the strength to put even some physical distance between them, let alone keep the old monster at emotional arm’s length.”
—Angela Carter (1940–1992)
“How soon country people forget. When they fall in love with a city it is forever, and it is like forever. As though there never was a time when they didn’t love it. The minute they arrive at the train station or get off the ferry and glimpse the wide streets and the wasteful lamps lighting them, they know they are born for it. There, in a city, they are not so much new as themselves: their stronger, riskier selves.”
—Toni Morrison (b. 1931)