Bishop's Stortford railway station

Bishop's Stortford railway station is on the West Anglia Main Line serving the town of Bishop's Stortford in Hertfordshire, England. It is 30 miles 27 chains (48.8 km) down the line from London Liverpool Street and is situated between Sawbridgeworth and Stansted Mountfitchet stations. Its three-letter station code is BIS. The station and all trains serving it are operated by Greater Anglia, including the half-hourly Stansted Express service.

Bishop's Stortford
General information
Location	Bishop's Stortford, District of East Hertfordshire England
Coordinates	51.867°N 0.165°E / 51.867; 0.165
Grid reference	TL491208
Managed by	Greater Anglia
Platforms	3
Other information
Station code	BIS
Classification	DfT category C2
History
Original company	Northern and Eastern Railway
Pre-grouping	Great Eastern Railway
Post-grouping	London and North Eastern Railway
Key dates
16 May 1842 (1842-05-16)	Station opened
Passengers
2018/19	3.260 million
Interchange	92,647
2019/20	3.074 million
Interchange	79,433
2020/21	0.712 million
Interchange	9,698
2021/22	2.004 million
Interchange	34,895
2022/23	2.363 million
Interchange	71,988
Notes Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

History

Bishop's Stortford station in 1961

The station was opened by the Northern and Eastern Railway as a temporary terminus on 16 May 1842; it became a through station on 30 July 1845 when the line was extended through to Norwich.

In 1843, the train from London to Bishop's Stortford was timetabled to run at 36 miles per hour (58 km/h), exclusive of stops; this is the fastest booked run on any English railway at the time.^[1]

The station site included a large goods yard occupying the land now used for car parking as well as sidings running as far west as the riverside wharves of the Stort Navigation. To the east, a small turntable and engine sheds lay on land recently used as a garage and (as of 2012) earmarked for supermarket use. During the station's heyday, the station had two signal boxes: South, located opposite the current building and behind platform 3, and North, controlling access to the Bishop's Stortford–Braintree branch line.

For most of the station's life, four lines passed through it, as opposed to the current three lines. There were up and down main lines, to the west of the now much extended island platform, with a branch line and passing loop (with access to turntable) to the east of the island platform; the northern end of which was located where the footbridge is today.

Bishop's Stortford was also a junction station for the cross-country route to Dunmow and Braintree, which opened to passengers on 22 February 1869 and closed on 3 March 1952. The line continued in use for freight trains and occasional excursions, closing in stages with the final section to Easton Lodge closing on 17 February 1972.^[2]

The station was the scene of a fatal crash, on the last full day of the General Strike of 1926, when a southbound goods train operated by a volunteer crew crashed into the rear of an earlier train sitting in platform two. The platform canopy was demolished and a waiting passenger killed.^[3]

Facilities and layout

Bishop's Stortford station, facing north

The station has three platforms:

• Platform 1 is for services towards Stansted Airport and Cambridge
• Platform 2 is used for services to London Liverpool Street and Stratford
• Platform 3 is used for some trains that terminate at Bishops Stortford. It is also used by a few services to/from Cambridge via Stansted Airport which only start/terminate here. In the days before 1985, when Bishop's Stortford was the northern limit of electrification, it was used for slow trains to London Liverpool Street and to Cambridge; therefore, platform 2 was used for fast trains.

The station has two entrances: one from Station Road where there is ticket hall, waiting room and real time information; the other entrance is for direct access to Platforms 2 and 3. Ticket barriers have been installed at the station to prevent fare evasion.^[4]

In 2014, the station underwent extensive modernisation; this resulted in the construction of a new ticket office, barrier line, retail outlets and a new platform canopy.^[5]

Services

The typical off-peak service is:^[6]

• 4 trains per hour (tph) to London Liverpool Street, of which:
  • 2 call at Tottenham Hale only (Stansted Express services)
  • 1 calls at Harlow Town, Broxbourne, Cheshunt and Tottenham Hale
  • 1 calls at Sawbridgeworth, Harlow Mill, Harlow Town, Roydon, Broxbourne, Cheshunt and Tottenham Hale
• 2 tph to Stratford, of which
  • 1 calls at Sawbridgeworth, Harlow Mill, Harlow Town, Roydon, Broxbourne, Cheshunt, Enfield Lock, Northumberland Park, Tottenham Hale and Lea Bridge.
  • 1 calls at Sawbridgeworth, Harlow Town, Broxbourne, Cheshunt, Waltham Cross, Tottenham Hale and Lea Bridge
• 2 tph to Stansted Airport running non-stop (Stansted Express services)
• 2 tph to Cambridge North of which:
  • 1 calls at Audley End, Whittlesford Parkway and Cambridge
  • 1 calls at Stansted Mountfitchet, Elsenham, Newport, Audley End, Great Chesterford, Whittlesford Parkway, Shelford and Cambridge.

On Sundays, this is reduced to:^[6]

• 4 tph to London, of which:
  • 2 call at Tottenham Hale only
  • 1 call at Sawbridgeworth, Harlow Town, Broxbourne, Cheshunt and Tottenham Hale
  • 1 call at Sawbridgeworth, Harlow Mill, Harlow Town, Roydon, Broxbourne, Cheshunt, Tottenham Hale and Hackney Downs
• 2 tph to Stansted Airport, both running non-stop
• 2 tph to Cambridge, of which:
  • 1 calls at Audley End and Whittlesford Parkway
  • 1 calls at Stansted Mountfitchet, Elsenham, Newport, Audley End, Great Chesterford, Whittlesford Parkway and Shelford

On weekdays, a small number of trains during the peak hours are extended beyond Cambridge to terminate at Ely. At other times, it is necessary to change at Cambridge for onward travel using services provided by CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway or Great Northern; Great Northern services also serve King's Lynn.

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Sawbridgeworth		Greater Anglia West Anglia Main Line		Stansted Mountfitchet
Harlow Town		Greater Anglia Stansted Express		Stansted Mountfitchet
	Disused railways
Terminus		Great Eastern Railway Stortford–Braintree branch line		Hockerill Halt Line and station closed

References

1. Red for Danger by L. T. C. Rolt publ. 1955 page 28-29
2. Body, Geoffrey, Railways of the Eastern Region Volume 1: Southern Operating area, page 27, Guild Publishing, 1986
3. "Accident Report" (PDF). Railways Archive. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
4. "Bishop's Stortford (BIS)". National Rail. Retrieved 12 October 2024.
5. "Bishops Stortford Station Modernisation Project" Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine, spenceltd.co.uk. Retrieved on 19 October 2014.
6. "Timetables". Greater Anglia. 2 June 2024. Retrieved 12 October 2024.

Further reading

• Peter Paye (2010). Bishop's Stortford, Dunmow and Braintree Branch. Oakwood Press. ISBN 978-0-85361-708-2.

External links

• Train times and station information for Bishop's Stortford railway station from National Rail

{{Hertfordshire railway stations}