Bishop's Stortford railway station is on the West Anglia Main Line serving the town of Bishop's Stortford, in Hertfordshire, England. It is down the line from , and is situated between and stations. The station and all trains serving it are operated by Greater Anglia, including the half-hourly Stansted Express service.

History

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 .

In 1843, the train from London to Bishop's Stortford was timetabled to run at , exclusive of stops; this was the fastest booked run on any English railway at the time.Red for Danger by L.T.C. Rolt publ. 1955 page 28-29

The station site included a large goods yard occupying the land formerly used for car parking to the west, now a housing development, 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 and , which opened to passengers on 22 February 1869 and closed on 3 March 1952. The line continued in use for goods trains and occasional excursions, closing in stages with the final section to closing on 17 February 1972.Body, Geoffrey, Railways of the Eastern Region Volume 1: Southern Operating area, page 27, Guild Publishing, 1986

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 was killed.

Facilities and layout

The station has three platforms: for services towards Stansted Airport and Cambridge used for services to London Liverpool Street a terminal platform, used for services between Stratford and Bishop's Stortford. It is also used by a few services to/from Cambridge via Stansted Airport which start/terminate here.

The station has two entrances: one from Station Road where there is ticket hall, waiting room and passenger 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.

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.

Services The typical off-peak service is: 4 trains per hour (tph) to ; of which: 2 call at only (Stansted Express) 1 calls at , , and Tottenham Hale 1 calls at , , Harlow Town, Broxbourne, Cheshunt and Tottenham Hale 2 tph to ; of which: 1 calls at Sawbridgeworth, Harlow Mill, Harlow Town, Roydon, Broxbourne, Cheshunt, , , , Tottenham Hale and . 1 calls at Sawbridgeworth, Harlow Town, Roydon, Broxbourne, Cheshunt, Tottenham Hale and Lea Bridge 2 tph to , running non-stop (Stansted Express) 2 tph to ; of which: 1 calls at , and 1 calls at , , , Audley End, , Whittlesford Parkway, and Cambridge.

On Sundays, this is reduced to: 4 tph to London Liverpool Street; 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.

During peak hours, the station is served by an additional 2 tph between Liverpool Street and Cambridge/. 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 .

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