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
Accessible	Yes
Fare zone	C
National Rail annual entry and exit
2008–09	3.008 million
2009–10	2.856 million
2010–11	2.936 million
2011–12	2.991 million
2012–13	3.131 million
2013–14	3.314 million
— interchange	1.895 million
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 & 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 portal

Shenfield railway station is on the Great Eastern Main Line and is also the western terminus of the Shenfield to Southend Line in the East of England, serving the town of Shenfield, Essex. It is 20 miles 16 chains (32.5 km) down-line from 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 operated by TfL Rail, and it is also an interchange station for many Abellio Greater Anglia medium-distance services to and from Southend Victoria and Southminster and longer-distance services to and from Harwich Town, Ipswich, Colchester, Clacton-on-Sea, Braintree and Witham. From 2019 Shenfield will also become the eastern terminus of the Crossrail line to Reading and London Heathrow Airport.

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 & 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. The Hutton Junction suffix in the station's name was removed on 20 February 1969.

The station is 20 miles 16 chains (32.5 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.

Oyster card readers were installed for pay-as-you-go journeys in 2013.

Today, Shenfield is served by fast trains on the main line towards London and it is also the eastern terminus of the stopping "metro" service from Liverpool Street. From 2019, Shenfield will additionally form the eastern terminus of Crossrail, although the precursor company TfL Rail took over the existng "metro" service in May 2015.

Nine-carriage Crossrail trains will run over the pair of 'electric lines', rather than the main lines, 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. 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, which will be built to the north of platform 5, replacing one of the existing three western sidings. The two remaining western sidings and three new eastern sidings will also be used by Crossrail. 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.

Services

The following services currently call at Shenfield:

Operator	Route	Rolling stock	Typical frequency	Notes
Abellio Greater Anglia	London Liverpool Street - Stratford - Shenfield - Chelmsford - Hatfield Peverel - Witham - Kelvedon - Marks Tey - Colchester - Manningtree - Ipswich	Class 321, Class 360	1x per hour
Abellio Greater Anglia	London Liverpool Street - Stratford - Shenfield - Chelmsford - Witham - Colchester - Wivenhoe - Thorpe-le-Soken - Clacton-on-Sea	Class 321, Class 360	1x per hour
Abellio Greater Anglia	London Liverpool Street - Stratford - (Romford) - Shenfield - Chelmsford - Witham - Kelvedon - Marks Tey - Colchester - Colchester Town	Class 321, Class 360	1x per hour
Abellio Greater Anglia	London Liverpool Street - Stratford - Shenfield - Ingatestone - Chelmsford - Witham - White Notley - Cressing - Braintree Freeport - Braintree	Class 321	1x per hour
Abellio Greater Anglia	London Liverpool Street - Stratford - Shenfield - Billericay - Wickford - Rayleigh - Hockley - Rochford - Southend Airport - Prittlewell - Southend Victoria	Class 321	2x per hour
Abellio Greater Anglia	London Liverpool Street - Stratford - Romford - Shenfield - Billericay - Wickford - Rayleigh - Hockley - Rochford - Southend Airport - Prittlewell - Southend Victoria	Class 321	1x per hour
Abellio Greater Anglia	London Liverpool Street - Stratford - Romford - Gidea Park - Harold Wood - Brentwood - Shenfield - Billericay - Wickford - Rayleigh - Hockley - Rochford - Southend Airport - Southend Victoria	Class 321	2x per hour	Sundays only
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	6x per hour	2x per hour Sundays

The Monday-Saturday off-peak service is:

• 13 trains per hour to London Liverpool Street, of which:
  • 5 call at Stratford only
  • 2 call at Romford and Stratford
  • 6 call at all stations

• 3 tph to Southend Victoria, calling at all stations

• 1 tph to Braintree, calling at Ingatestone, Chelmsford, Witham, then all stations

• 1 tph to Clacton-on-Sea, calling at Ingatestone, Chelmsford, Witham, Colchester, Wivenhoe and Thorpe-le-Soken

• 1 tph to Colchester Town, calling at Chelmsford, Witham then all stations

• 1 tph to Ipswich, calling at Chelmsford then all stations.

On Sundays this is reduced to:

• 6 tph to London Liverpool Street, of which:
  • 2 call at Stratford only
  • 2 call at Brentwood, Harold Wood, Gidea Park, Romford then 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, Wivenhoe, Alresford, Great Bentley and Thorpe-le-Soken

• 1 tph to Ipswich, calling at all stations.

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
Stratford		Abellio Greater Anglia Great Eastern Main Line		Chelmsford
Romford				Ingatestone
Stratford		Abellio Greater Anglia Shenfield to Southend Line including connection to Great Eastern Main Line		Billericay
Romford
Brentwood (Sundays only)
Stratford		Dutchflyer London-Amsterdam		Chelmsford
Preceding station		Crossrail		Following station
Brentwood towards London Liverpool Street		TfL Rail Shenfield Metro		Terminus
	Future development
Brentwood towards Reading or Heathrow Airport		Crossrail Elizabeth Line		Terminus