Romford   | |
|---|---|
 Station entrance seen in June 2022 | |
  Romford Location of Romford in Greater London | |
| Location | Romford |
| Local authority | London Borough of Havering |
| Managed by | Elizabeth line |
| Owner | |
| Station code | RMF |
| DfT category | C2 |
| Number of platforms | 5 |
| Accessible | Yes[1] |
| Fare zone | 6 |
| National Rail annual entry and exit | |
| 2019–20 |  9.382 million[2] |
| – interchange | 0.802 million[2] |
| 2020–21 |  3.133 million[2] |
| – interchange | 0.223 million[2] |
| 2021–22 | 6.287 million[2] |
| – interchange | 0.514 million[2] |
| 2022–23 | 11.603 million[2] |
| – interchange | 0.579 million[2] |
| 2023–24 | 14.820 million[2] |
| – interchange | 0.997 million[2] |
| Key dates | |
| 20 June 1839 | ECR station opened |
| 7 June 1893 | LTSR Upminster platform opened |
| 1934 | Stations combined |
| Other information | |
| External links | |
| Coordinates | 51°34′30″N0°10′58″E / 51.5749°N 0.1827°E /51.5749; 0.1827 |
 London transport portal | |
Romford railway station is aninterchange station on theGreat Eastern Main Line, serving the town ofRomford in theLondon Borough of Havering, east London. It is 12 miles 30 chains (19.9 km) down the line fromLondon Liverpool Street and is situated betweenChadwell Heath andGidea Park. It is also the northern terminus of theLiberty line of theLondon Overground. Its three-letter station code is RMF and it is inLondon fare zone 6.
The station is currently managed by theElizabeth line. The majority of services that call at Romford are Elizabeth line, but the station is also served by off-peakGreater Anglia trains between Liverpool Street andSouthend Victoria.
From its inception, theEastern Counties Railway (ECR) planned a route linking London andNorwich that would take it viaRomford. Two routes were considered, that of the current line, and an alternative going throughIlford at Cranbrook Road, then passing near toGidea Hall and crossing Romford Common approximately following the route of the currentA12 before returning to the current railway alignment atBrentwood.[3]
When the line was constructed, the first Romford station opened on 20 June 1839 as a single island platform located to the west of Waterloo Road, and formed the eastern terminus of the initial part of the Eastern Counties Railway fromMile End. Both stations acted as temporary termini, with the line extending east toBrentwood and west toShoreditch in 1840.
In 1844, the station was relocated to its current position, some 400 metres (1,300 ft) east of the original. Around this time, the gauge of the ECR was changed from5 ft (1,524 mm) tostandard gauge of1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in). In 1860, the station was remodelled with platforms on each side of the line with access to the new station by a covered walkway from South Street to the London-bound platform and via an open slope and steps for the country-bound platform.[4] Soon after this, the goods depot, which was situated to the south of the station, was connected to theInd Coope brewery via a tunnel under the line.[5] Other non-passenger traffic included goods for the Romford Gas Works and for cattle pens accessed from St Andrews Road,[6] which were necessary due to the cattle market held in Romford every Wednesday.[7]
The line became part of theGreat Eastern Railway (GER) in 1862. It was grouped into theLondon and North Eastern Railway (LNER) in 1922.
The construction of theTilbury Docks in the 1850s gave expanded opportunities for rail traffic, and three proposals were made for a railway linkingRomford toTilbury. TheLondon, Tilbury and Southend Railway (LT&S) were successful, and on 7 June 1893, the LT&S opened a station in Romford, ontheir line toUpminster, linking to the already existing connection from Upminster toGrays on the LT&S line toTilbury. The LT&S had hoped to negotiate with the Great Eastern Railway to use their station, but concerns over fast trains led to the GER declining and a completely new station was built with a single platform and an entrance on the opposite side of South Street to the GER station. A footbridge was built to connect the two stations but was often closed during the day.[8]
In 1934, the entrance to the platform of the line to Upminster was closed and the access to the single platform was provided by the footbridge from the main station platforms.[9]
In May 2015, the Upminster branch line transferred fromAbellio Greater Anglia toLondon Overground.[10] The London Overground service at the station was rebranded as theLiberty line from November 2024.[11]
In the 1930s, increasing traffic on the line led to two additional tracks and platforms being added by the LNER on the north side, the line having beenquadrupled to a point west of Romford previously in 1901.[12]
Electric trains started on the line fromLiverpool Street toShenfield in 1949, giving Romford 15 trains per hour to London during peak hours, and 6 trains per hour off-peak, a pattern that continued for over half a century.[13]
In May 2015, the regular Shenfield stopping service transferred toTfL Rail.[14]
In 2017, newClass 345 trains began entering service as the line created by theCrossrail project partially opened under the TfL Rail brand. Platforms 2 to 5 were extended from their length of between 179 metres (196 yd) and 182 metres (199 yd) to accommodate theCrossrail trains, which are over 200 metres (220 yd) long. New lifts, signage, help points, customer information screens and CCTV were installed.[15] The upgrade works were completed in August 2022, after delays due to theCOVID-19 pandemic.[16][17]
TfL Rail services were rebranded as the Elizabeth line on 24 May 2022.
The station is inLondon fare zone 6. As of the May 2025 timetable, the typical Monday to Friday off-peak service is:[21]
London Buses routes5,66,86,103,128,165,174,175,193,247,248,252,294,296,365,370,375,496,498,499, school routes647,648,651,674,686, and night routesN15 andN86 serve the station.[24]
Valid from Sunday 18 May to Saturday 13 December 2025
Valid from 18 May 2025
Valid from Sunday 18 May 2025 until further notice
| Preceding station |  National Rail | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greater Anglia | ||||
| Preceding station | Elizabeth line | Following station | ||
| Chadwell Heath towardsHeathrow Terminal 5 | Elizabeth line | Gidea Park towardsShenfield | ||
| Preceding station | London Overground | Following station | ||
| Terminus | Liberty line | Emerson Park towardsUpminster | ||
| Historical railways | ||||
| Anglia Railways | ||||
| Abandoned works | ||||
| Great Eastern Railway | ||||
| Stations |
| ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rolling stock |
| ||||||||||||
| Depots | |||||||||||||
| Operators |
| ||||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||||
| Related routes | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||
