Friday 31 May 2019

Goodbye Angel Road - London's former least used railway station

Today, Friday 31 May 2019, the 19:52 departure was the last service to serve Angel Road. Located on the Lea Valley line and with just over 32,000 annual passengers, Angel Road was the least used railway station in London. Considering the station has been on my radar to visit for some time now, I had to go today, on AGR's final day.




Angel Road is located in Edmonton, north London, and all services since 2012 have been operated by Greater Anglia. The station opened in September 1840, as 'Edmonton', which at the time was a village, however, the station was three-quarters of a mile away from the village. The station was renamed 'Water Lane' in March 1849 before being renamed 'Angel Road' in January 1864. The area has had an industrial feel since 1847 when the Tottenham and District Gas Company opened, just south of Angel Road station. The gas company closed in the 1950s, but the area retained its industrial feel.

It is clear as to why Angel Road was London's former least used railway station. There are not many facilities, the trainline state there is "small sheltered seating area", and that is about it. The entrance is a long walk, narrow and unpleasant walk to Conduit Lane, which is a busy road. There are Oyster card readers and a broken permit to travel machine, but no ticket machines or facilities to top up an Oyster card, and footbridge links both platforms. There are numerous posters at Angel Road from @PilningStation - "A noisy victim to SWML". 

Angel Road station closed as it is to be replaced by Meridian Water station, just 580 metres south. This new station will serve the Meridian Water development, a £6 billion programme in Upper Edmonton which will see 10,000 homes being built. Meridian Water station will still be situated on the Lea Valley line, with services to Liverpool Street and predominantly Stratford. From September, two trains per hour will start and terminate at Meridian Water, as well as trains from Hertford East and Bishops Stortford calling at the station during the peak hours. This will increase capacity on the line.

Meridian Water is also on the proposed Crossrail 2 route which is expected to open in the 2030s. The station was constructed to allow for future development. For example, platform 1 has been constructed, but there is no laid track. It is expected 4 million people will use the station every year, unlikely to ever be the least used station in London. Meridian Water station is due to open in a few days time on Monday 3 June 2019.



The first passenger train to call into Meridian Water is expected to be the 05:57 service to Liverpool Street. There have, however, been various accounts on Twitter over the last couple of days of services "missing" Angel Road and stopping at Meridian Water.

As we today say goodbye to Angel Road, and welcome Meridian Water on Monday, this weekend the number of railway stations in London will officially be reduced by 1.I look forward to visiting London's latest railway station on Monday.

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