Blackhorse Road station

Blackhorse Road is an interchange station, located at the junction of Blackhorse Road/Blackhorse Lane with Forest Road in Walthamstow, London for London Underground and London Overground services.

Blackhorse Road
Class 172 Turbostar at the station in 2012
Blackhorse Road Location of Blackhorse Road in Greater London
Location	Walthamstow
Local authority	London Borough of Waltham Forest
Managed by	London Underground
Owner	London Underground Network Rail
Station code(s)	BHO
DfT category	E
Number of platforms	4
Accessible	Yes (London Overground only)[1]
Fare zone	3
London Underground annual entry and exit
2019	9.74 million[2]
2020	6.16 million[3]
2021	4.99 million[4]
2022	8.51 million[5]
2023	8.98 million[6]
National Rail annual entry and exit
2019–20	1.838 million[7]
2020–21	0.972 million[7]
2021–22	1.753 million[7]
2022–23	1.932 million[7]
2023–24	2.281 million[7]
Key dates
9 July 1894	National Rail opened
1 September 1968	Victoria line started
14 December 1981	BR station resited
Other information
External links	TfL station info page Departures Facilities
Coordinates	51.586944°N 0.041389°W / 51.586944; -0.041389
London transport portal

For the Tramlink line tram stop, see Blackhorse Lane tram stop.

It is on the Victoria line of the London Underground and is the penultimate station on the eastern end of that line. Above ground, the station is on the Suffragette line of the London Overground, 7 miles 21 chains (11.7 km) from St Pancras (measured via Kentish Town and Mortimer Street Junction).^[8]

v t e London Overground
Cheshunt Theobalds Grove Enfield Town Turkey Street Romford Bush Hill Park Southbury Emerson Park Upminster Edmonton Green Silver Street Chingford White Hart Lane Highams Park Watford Junction Bruce Grove Wood Street Watford Seven Sisters Walthamstow Central High Street Harringay Blackhorse Road Walthamstow Queen's Road Bushey Green Lanes Carpenders Park Crouch Hill South Tottenham St. James Leyton Midland Road Hatch End Upper () Stamford Hill Street Leytonstone Headstone Lane Holloway Stoke Newington Clapton High Road Harrow & Kentish Town West Rectory Road Wanstead Park () Wealdstone Gospel Oak Camden Road () Hackney Woodgrange Park () Kenton () Caledonian Road Canonbury Downs Barking South Kenton & Barnsbury Barking Riverside () North Highbury & Islington Dalston Kingsland Hackney Central Wembley Hampstead Heath Dalston Wembley Finchley Road & Frognal () Junction London Fields Central West Hampstead ( ) Haggerston Cambridge Homerton Stonebridge Brondesbury Hoxton Heath Hackney Wick Park Brondesbury Park Shoreditch High Street Bethnal Green Stratford Harlesden Kensal Rise Kensal Green Liverpool Whitechapel Willesden Queen's Park Street Shadwell () Junction Kilburn High Road Wapping South Hampstead Rotherhithe Shepherd's Bush () Euston () Canada Water Kensington (Olympia) Surrey Quays West Brompton Battersea Park Imperial Wharf () (limited service) New Cross Clapham Queens Road Peckham New Cross Gate Junction Peckham Rye Brockley Acton Central Wandsworth Road Denmark Hill Honor Oak Park South Acton () Clapham Forest Hill Gunnersbury High Street Sydenham Kew Gardens Richmond Crystal Palace Penge West Anerley Norwood Junction West Croydon ()
Legend
Station National Rail Liberty line Accessible station Thameslink Lioness line Interchange station Elizabeth line Mildmay line Accessible interchange Docklands Light Railway Suffragette line Internal interchange London Underground Weaver line Out-of-station interchange London Trams Windrush line (   ) Nearby interchange London River Services The new London Overground line names and colours were introduced across the London rail network in November 2024

It is in Travelcard Zone 3.^[9] It is also the closest railway station to Walthamstow Wetlands.

Ticket barriers control access to all platforms. Passengers using Oyster cards are required to tap on a yellow Oyster card reader at ticket gates when entering and leaving the station and - to be charged a lower fare - suggested to also tap on a pink Oyster card reader if transferring between the two lines.

History

The station was opened by the Tottenham and Forest Gate Railway on 9 July 1894,^[10] and was originally situated east of Blackhorse Road.^[11] Its opening changed the local area from a gentrified London suburb to industrial, with several works and units opening around Ferry Lane to the northwest.^[12]

The Victoria line station opened on 1 September 1968, across the road from the mainline station.^[10][13] It was planned as a simple two-platform station, and was the only station on the line with any new structures above ground level.^[14] The surface line station was re-sited by British Rail on 14 December 1981, to provide better interchange with the Underground station.^[15]

The station today

Structure

The station contains two underground platforms for the Victoria line and two for the London Overground. Owing to budget restraints at the time of construction, the Underground station, like many stations on the Victoria line, was never completely finished to the standard of other lines.^{[citation needed]} White ceiling panels were never fixed to the ceilings above the platforms; instead the steel tunnel segments were painted black and used to support the fixtures and fittings. This has had a detrimental effect on the lighting levels.^{[citation needed]}

Artwork

The black horse tile motif at the tube station.

There are two distinct works of art at the station, both depicting black horses, in reference to the station's name. One is in the form of a tile motif depicting a black horse on a white cameo against a light blue background, identical to the Victoria line's colour. It was designed by Hans Unger, who also did the tile motif at Seven Sisters tube station. The other is a mural of a black horse outside the station's entrance, by David McFall.^[16]

Services

During peak periods, trains run approximately every two minutes on the Victoria line (up to 33 trains per hour) in both directions.^[17][18]

The typical off-peak service for the Suffragette line of the London Overground in trains per hour (tph) is:

• 4 tph westbound to Gospel Oak^[19]
• 4 tph eastbound to Barking Riverside^[19]

From June 2016 until February 2017, services on the route were suspended whilst it was electrified; this project involved lowering track in several places, rebuilding bridges and lengthening platforms as well as installing overhead wires.^[20] A replacement bus service was in operation for the duration of the closure period.

Connections

London Bus routes 123, 158, 230, W11 and night route N73 serve the station.^[21]