Wood Street railway station

"Wood Street station" redirects here. For the light rail station in Pittsburgh, United States, see Wood Street station (Pittsburgh Regional Transit).

Wood Street is a station on the Weaver line of the London Overground, located in Upper Walthamstow in the London Borough of Waltham Forest, north east London. It is 7 miles 7 chains (11.4 km) down the line from London Liverpool Street and is situated between Walthamstow Central and Highams Park on the Chingford branch line. The station is in Travelcard Zone 4, and is situated close to Whipps Cross University Hospital.

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Wood Street
Main entrance on Upper Walthamstow Road
Wood Street Location of Wood Street in Greater London
Location	Walthamstow
Local authority	London Borough of Waltham Forest
Managed by	London Overground
Station code(s)	WST
DfT category	D
Number of platforms	2
Fare zone	4
National Rail annual entry and exit
2019–20	1.573 million[1]
2020–21	0.549 million[1]
2021–22	1.268 million[1]
2022–23	1.611 million[1]
2023–24	1.933 million[1]
Key dates
17 November 1873	Opened
Other information
External links	Departures Facilities
Coordinates	51.5864°N 0.0021°W / 51.5864; -0.0021
London transport portal

History

The station was opened in 1873 by the Great Eastern Railway.^[2]

On 13 February 1919 there was an accident at Wood Street when a passenger train ran into an empty stock train. Five people were injured – none seriously. The cause was a signal failure.^[3]

In 1923 the Great Eastern Railway became part of the London and North Eastern Railway, which in turn was merged into British Railways Eastern Region following nationalisation in 1948.

When construction of the London Underground's Victoria line was given parliamentary approval in 1955, the plan was to build the line past Walthamstow Central station to Wood Street, where the line would surface to terminate next to the British Railways station, on land previously used as a coal depot. Before construction work started, a decision was made in 1961 to omit the section beyond Walthamstow Central.^[4][5]

The line was electrified in 1960, and electric services commenced on 12 November. At first Class 305 EMUs were used, but initial technical problems led to their replacement by Class 302 and Class 304 EMUs.^[6]

The station had a goods depot, which closed on 6 May 1968.^[7]

In April 1994 Railtrack took over responsibility for the operation of the infrastructure. Train services have been operated since then by West Anglia Great Northern, National Express East Anglia, Abellio Greater Anglia and, as of 2015^[update], by London Overground.

Engine shed

There was an engine shed located just north of Wood Street which was a sub-shed of Stratford TMD and was built in 1878.^[8] The engine shed was a two road affair with space for 6 tank locomotives – there was also a short siding for coal wagons. An additional siding was added c1934.^[9] By the 1950s the staff complement was 36 drivers, 36 Firemen and six Passed Cleaners although recruitment for what was a hard dirty job became more difficult during that decade.^[10]

On 1 January 1922 the allocation consisted of three GER Class M15 2-4-2Ts (later LNER Class F4), two GER Class C72 (later LNER Class J68) and eleven GER Class S56 (later LNER class J69) 0-6-0T engines.^[11]

In later years the main allocation of the shed was tank engines for working suburban services to and from London Liverpool Street and from the 1920s the allocation was exclusively the LNER N7 0-6-2T locomotives.

The shed was closed in 1960 when the line was electrified.

Services

Trains are operated as part of the Weaver line of the London Overground.

The typical off-peak weekday service pattern is:

• 4 trains per hour (tph) to London Liverpool Street;
• 4 tph to Chingford.

Journey times are 9 minutes to Chingford and 20 minutes to Liverpool Street.

Connections

London Buses routes 230 and W16 serve the station.

References

1. "Estimates of station usage". Rail statistics. Office of Rail Regulation. Please note: Some methodology may vary year on year.
2. Allen, Cecil J (1955). The Great Eastern Railway. Shepperton: Ian Allan. pp. 234–239.
3. Voisey, Francis (January 2005). Great Eastern Railway Society Journal (121): 121.18–121.19. {{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
4. "Victoria Line Change". London Transport Magazine. 15 (10): 5. January 1962. Plans for the alignment in the Walthamstow area of the proposed Victoria tube railway line are being changed so that it ends at Hoe Street station, and not at Wood Street station as originally intended. This is because alterations to the layout of the British Railways track and overhead electrical equipment at Wood Street would too costly. Satisfactory interchange with the Eastern Region electric service to Highams Park and Chingford will be provided at Hoe Street. [...] The revision of plans will cut the capital cost of the Victoria line by about €1,400,000.
5. Horne, Mike (2005). The Victoria Line: An Illustrated History. Capital Transport. p. 26. ISBN 1-85414-292-5.
6. Baker, John (July 1993). "Great Eastern section Electrification part 6". Great Eastern Journal (75): 29.
7. Jackson, Alan A (1999). London's Local Railways ((2nd run) ed.). Harrow Weald: Capital Transport. p. 379. ISBN 1-85414-209-7.
8. Hardy, Richard (April 2005). "Wood Street Loco – W J Barker Shed Chargeman". Great Eastern Railway Journal. 122: 122.2–122.6.
9. Hawkins, Chris (1986). Great Eastern Railway Engine Sheds Part 1. Didcot: Wild Swan. pp. 62–68. ISBN 0-906867-40-1.
10. Goodey, Peter (October 2004). Great Eastern Railway Society Journal. 104: 20. {{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
11. Hawkins, Chris; Reeves, George (1987). Great Eastern Railway Engine Shed Part 2. Didcot UK: Wild Swan. p. 379. ISBN 0-906867-48-7.

External links

• Train times and station information for Wood Street railway station from National Rail

Preceding station	London Overground			Following station
Walthamstow Central towards Liverpool Street		Weaver line Lea Valley lines		Highams Park towards Chingford
Abandoned Plans
Preceding station	London Underground			Following station
Walthamstow Central towards Victoria		Victoria line		Terminus