Brentwood railway station

Brentwood Crossrail
Brentwood
Location of Brentwood in Essex
Location Brentwood
Local authority Borough of Brentwood
Grid reference TQ593930
Managed by TfL Rail
Station code BRE
DfT category C2
Number of platforms 4
Accessible Yes(except platform 4)[1]
Fare zone 9
National Rail annual entry and exit
2012–13 Increase 2.702 million[2]
2013–14 Increase 2.810 million[2]
2014–15 Increase 2.871 million[2]
2015–16 Decrease 2.819 million[2]
2016–17 Increase 2.884 million[2]
Railway companies
Original company Eastern Counties Railway
Pre-grouping Great Eastern Railway
Post-grouping London and North Eastern Railway
Key dates
1 July 1840 (1840-07-01) Opened as Brentwood
1 November 1882 Renamed Brentwood & Warley for Billericay
1 January 1889 Renamed Brentwood & Warley
20 February 1969 Renamed Brentwood
Other information
Lists of stations
External links
WGS84 51°36′49″N 0°18′00″E / 51.61361°N 0.30000°E / 51.61361; 0.30000Coordinates: 51°36′49″N 0°18′00″E / 51.61361°N 0.30000°E / 51.61361; 0.30000
London transport portal
UK Railways portal

Brentwood railway station is on the Great Eastern Main Line in the East of England, serving the town of Brentwood, Essex. It is 18 miles 16 chains (29.3 km) down the line from London Liverpool Street and is situated between Harold Wood and Shenfield. Its three-letter station code is BRE.

The station is currently managed by TfL Rail. The vast majority of services call at Brentwood as part of the Liverpool Street-Shenfield stopping "metro" service operated by TfL Rail, but some Abellio Greater Anglia services for Southend Victoria also call on Sundays.

In autumn 2019 the TfL Rail service will be re-branded as the Elizabeth line as part of the Crossrail project. Eventually, the Elizabeth line service will be extended beyond Liverpool Street to Paddington, with onward connections from there to Reading and Heathrow Airport.

History

Brentwood station was opened on 1 July 1840 as a temporary terminus by the Eastern Counties Railway (ECR) on what was to become the Great Eastern Main Line, until 1843, when the line was extended towards Colchester.

View of Brentwood & Warley station in 1961

The Great Eastern Railway (GER) took over in 1862 and renamed the station as Brentwood & Warley for Billericay in 1882, shortened to Brentwood & Warley in 1889. After the grouping of 1923 the station passed to the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER), which quadrupled the number of tracks passing through in 1934. In 1969 the station's name was changed back to Brentwood.

The station is sited at the bottom of a bank which ascends to the east towards Shenfield. This presented a significant climb to down-steam trains. Until 2001, embankment ladders were present to allow workmen to access the tracks but these were replaced with a walkway along the tracks.

In 2010, National Express East Anglia, then the operating company for the line, commenced an improvement programme at the station, including the expansion of the entrance and ticket hall, refurbishment of waiting rooms and provision for the installation of customer lifts to the platforms.[3]

Accidents and incidents

  • On 19 September 1850, nine workmen were killed when they were struck by a train at Brentwood station in dense fog. The ECR was criticised by the coroner's jury for not adequately protecting the men.
  • On 20 November 1902, approximately 80 passengers were injured on an Ipswich-Liverpool Street service that had stopped at Brentwood & Warley station when it was rear-ended by a train that was not in service. A Board of Trade report stated that the empty train's speed "was not more than four or five miles an hour" at the time of the collision as it had only just pulled out of a siding to enter service from Brentwood.[4]
  • On 8 July 1926, 12 people were injured when a passenger and mail train from Liverpool Street was approaching Brentwood & Warley and collided head-on with a train pilot engine. At the moment of impact the speed of the passenger train had been about 10 mph, whilst the light engine was almost or completely stationary. The primary causes of the accident were recorded as driver and shunter errors, as well as excessive speed.[5]
  • On 10 February 1941, seven people were killed and 19 seriously injured in a collision on the track between Harold Wood and Brentwood & Warley. An express train travelling from Liverpool Street to Norwich Thorpe came to a stand on the main line, unable to ascend the bank due to a shortage of steam, and about eight minutes later was run into from the rear by a Southend Victoria-bound stopping service which had passed a signal at danger. The speed of the Southend train was reported to have been around 30 mph, resulting in a violent collision. The driver of the Southend train was fully fit, highly experienced and should have noticed both the red signal and the stopped train ahead. He "fully admitted his responsibility for the collision" and according to a Ministry of War Transport investigation: "Such a grave lapse on the part of an experienced main line driver is difficult to explain."[6]

Services

Trains serving Brentwood are predominantly operated by TfL Rail and some on Sundays only are operated by Abellio Greater Anglia. The typical Monday-Saturday off-peak service from the station is six trains per hour in each direction on the stopping "metro" service between Shenfield and Liverpool Street. On Sundays the TfL Rail service is reduced to two, and two Abellio Greater Anglia Southend services call.

The following services typically call at Brentwood:

Operator Route Rolling stock Frequency Notes
TfL Rail London Liverpool Street - Stratford - Maryland - Forest Gate - Manor Park - Ilford - Seven Kings - Goodmayes - Chadwell Heath - Romford - Gidea Park - Harold Wood - Brentwood - Shenfield Class 315, Class 345 6x per hour 2x per hour on Sundays
Abellio Greater Anglia London Liverpool Street - Stratford - Romford - Gidea Park - Harold Wood - Brentwood - Shenfield - Billericay - Wickford - Rayleigh - Hockley - Rochford - Southend Airport - Southend Victoria Class 321 2x per hour Sundays only

In June 2017 new Class 345 trains began entering service in preparation for the opening of Crossrail. The platforms at Brentwood will be extended from their current length of between 184 metres (201 yd) and 187 metres (205 yd) to accommodate the new trains which will be over 200 metres (220 yd) long once extended to nine carriages. New lifts, signage, help points, customer information screens and CCTV will also be installed.

References

  1. ↑ "Step free Tube Guide" (PDF). Transport for London. Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 June 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Station usage estimates". Rail statistics. Office of Rail Regulation. Please note: Some methodology may vary year on year.
  3. ↑ http://www.nationalexpresseastanglia.com/about-us/press-centre/latest-news/1-5m-improvement-programme-is-underway-at-brentwood-station
  4. ↑ http://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/docsummary.php?docID=2565
  5. ↑ http://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/docsummary.php?docID=2327
  6. ↑ http://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/documents/MoT_HaroldWood1940.pdf
Preceding station   Crossrail   Following station
TfL Rail
Shenfield Metro
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towards Paddington
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Elizabeth line
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