Station code HWN DfT category C1 Opened 1960 | Grid reference TL446112 Managed by Abellio Greater Anglia 2011/12 1.599 million Number of platforms 4 | |
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Address Harlow CM20 2JD, United Kingdom Similar Harlow Mill railway station, Tottenham Hale station, Bishop's Stortford railway st, Sawbridgeworth railway station, Broxbourne railway station | ||
Harlow Town railway station serves the town of Harlow in Essex, England. The station, and all trains serving it, are operated by Abellio Greater Anglia.
Contents
History
The station was opened in 1842 as Burnt Mill railway station, to serve the small village of the same name.
In 1959-60 the station was totally rebuilt to serve the post-war new town of Harlow, to designs by Paul Hamilton with John Bicknell and Ian Fraser of the British Railways (Eastern Region) architects department (chief architect: HH Powell). Described by Pevsner as "low, crisp and entirely ungimmicky", its architectural quality was recognised in 1996 when it was made a Grade II listed building. The listing entry states "the Eastern Region Architect's Department was the most creative branch of British Railways, designing a number of powerful modern stations in conjunction with the Region's electrification. The new station for Harlow New Town was the flagship of this achievement. It is a building with powerful spatial qualities, of especial interest particularly for its architectural design".
On 13 July 1960, the station was renamed Harlow Town. Its status as a listed building has meant that alterations to conform with the DDA have had to be done sensitively to protect the original architectural conception.
Services
All services at the station are operated by the rail company Abellio Greater Anglia (an international part of Nederlandse Spoorwegen), although some are branded as Stansted Express. All services use Class 317 and Class 379 electric multiple units.
Typical hourly off-peak service pattern:
(tph = trains per hour)
Stansted Express services take 33 minutes to Liverpool Street, calling at Tottenham Hale only, and takes 21 minutes to Stansted Airport.
The station today
The station has four platforms. Platform 2 is for services towards London Liverpool Street and Stratford. Platform 3 is for services towards Stansted Airport and Cambridge. Platforms 1 and 4 are used less frequently for slow trains and as a Waiting loop for freight trains from the aggregate terminal a mile down the line, they are however used by a number of peak starting/terminating services to/from Liverpool Street or Stratford and by a few through trains northbound and southbound. Currently all platforms accommodate 12 car trains although the longest currently used on the line is 8 car.
In December 2009 ticket barriers were installed at the station, to help reduce penalty fare evasion from the station. The platforms can accommodate 12 car trains.