Location Emerson Park Station code EMP Accessible Yes Number of platforms 1 | Managed by London Overground DfT category F2 Fare zone 6 | |
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Address Hornchurch, United Kingdom Similar Gidea Park railway station, Upminster station, Goodmayes railway station, Romford railway station, Upminster Bridge tube station | ||
Emerson Park is a London Overground station serving the Emerson Park neighbourhood of the London Borough of Havering in north-east London. The station is on the Romford to Upminster Line and is the only intermediate station on that single-track line, 1 mile 64 chains (2.9 km) down-line from Romford. The station was opened as Emerson Park Halt in 1909 by the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway on a branch line which had connected Romford with Upminster and Grays since 1893.
Contents
The station has been managed by London Overground since May 2015, which also operates the train services. Emerson Park has no station buildings other than a platform canopy over the single platform. It has relatively low but fast-growing patronage for a suburban railway station, with 260,000 passenger entries/exits in 2015/16, compared to 82,000 five years prior and just 32,000 ten years prior.
History
The Romford to Upminster Line was constructed in 1893 as a branch of the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway (LT&SR). Property development in the immediate area and in 1908 the proposed new railway station at Gidea Park, which opened in 1910, on the Great Eastern Railway (GER) prompted the LT&SR to construct a station on their branch. The station was opened on 1 October 1909 as Emerson Park Halt on the branch line from Romford to Grays via Upminster, where it connected with the main route from London Fenchurch Street. A run round loop was constructed 500 yards to the west to enable extra trains to run between Emerson Park and Upminster. When push-pull working began in 1934 the loop was not needed and taken out c. 1936. Originally named Emerson Park Halt, and shown in some timetables and on some signage throughout its history as Emerson Park & Great Nelmes, the station name was later simplified to Emerson Park, but the date of this change is not recorded. Even though the station has long been called Emerson Park, one former platform sign installed by National Express East Anglia in the late 2000s read: "Welcome to Emerson Park Halt".
Design
The station consists of a side platform located to the north of the single track. Access to the street is provided by a ramp. The station is of basic design and has no buildings other than a platform canopy. There are Oyster card validators and a ticket vending machine. A digital display board underneath the canopy provides departure information.
Connections, other stations in Hornchurch area
London Buses routes 165, 256 and 370 serve the station, providing connections to Ardleigh Green, Harold Wood, Hornchurch, Lakeside Shopping Centre, Rainham, Romford and Upminster. It is one of three stations in the Hornchurch area, all some distance from the town centre; the others are Hornchurch and Upminster Bridge, both on the London Underground's District line.
Services
The station is in London fare zone 6. The typical off-peak service from the station is two trains per hour to Upminster and two to Romford. The journey time to Upminster is five minutes and to Romford is four minutes.
In May 2015 the station transferred from Abellio Greater Anglia operation to London Overground. Since then, services run Monday to Saturday between approximately 6:15 am and 10 pm and on Sundays from approximately 8:45 am to 8 pm. Oyster pay as you go has been available at the station since 2010. The total numbers of passenger entries and exits at the station during the year are:
Note: due to a change in methodology of counting entries/exits, the change from 2014/15 to 2015/16 may be overstated.