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| Franchises | Part ofGreater Anglia 15 October 2016 – 2025 Part ofAbellio Greater Anglia 5 February 2012 – 15 October 2016 Part ofNational Express East Anglia 1 April 2004 – 4 February 2012 Part ofWest Anglia Great Northern 5 January 1997 – 31 March 2004 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Main Routes | Liverpool Street –Stansted Airport (West Anglia Main Line) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Fleet | 10Class 745/1FLIRT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stations called at | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Parent company | Greater Anglia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Reporting mark | SX[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Website | www | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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TheStansted Express is adirect train service linkingLondon Liverpool Street toLondon Stansted Airport. It is a brand ofstate-owned operatorGreater Anglia.
In 1986,British Rail (BR) extended the electrification of theWest Anglia Main Line fromBishop's Stortford toCambridge. Included in this plan was the construction of a new branch line—diverging from a triangular junction atStansted Mountfitchet—to serveStansted Airport, at which a new terminal was to open in 1991 providing for a large expansion in scheduled aviation passenger services. Therefore, BR decided to build a dedicated fleet of units to work the new Stansted Express service, designated asClass 322, with the service operated by theNetwork SouthEast sector.[citation needed]
Upon theprivatisation of British Rail in 1996, the Stansted Express was part ofWest Anglia Great Northern franchise until the tender was reorganised in 2004, at which time it became part of theGreater Anglia franchise operated by one Railway (later renamedNational Express East Anglia) until February 2012, when the franchise was taken over byAbellio Greater Anglia.[citation needed]
Unlike theHeathrow Express and theGatwick Express (but similarly to other services between London andHeathrow orGatwick), trains also stop at intermediate stations between the airport and central London. The Stansted Express stops atTottenham Hale (which provides interchange with the London UndergroundVictoria Line). Trains operate every 15 minutes, running to aclock-face schedule and typically take 46 minutes to London Liverpool Street (32 minutes to Tottenham Hale), though some services take slightly longer, especially around peak rail times.[2]
Stansted Express offers several ticket types. In addition to the Single and Return tickets, percentage discounts are available for advance bookings, those travelling in pairs with WebDuo and groups with GroupSave. Every Stansted Express ticket comes with money-saving "2FOR1" (two-for-one) offers on some of London's favourite restaurants, shows and attractions like TheLondon Eye,Madame Tussauds, theSea Life Centre andThorpe Park resort.Oyster or Contactless payment cards are not valid on Stansted Express services to/from Stansted Airport, but can be used between Liverpool Street and Tottenham Hale.
As of May 2025[update], Stansted Express' off-peak services Monday to Friday are:[3]
| Stansted Express | ||
|---|---|---|
| Route | tph | Calling at |
| London Liverpool Street -Stansted Airport | 2 | |
| 2 |
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Transport for London operates a pay-as-you-go system for public transport services. Passengers indicate the journey they are making by presenting acontactless payment card orOyster card to readers at the start and end of the journey; the system then uses this information to automatically charge the appropriate fare. At stations fitted withticket barriers, the readers are attached to the barriers and the barriers open when a valid card is presented. Stansted Airport, being located some distance from London, is outside the area covered by this system, so PAYG cannot be used to travel there - instead, a ticket must be purchased. With 'London' in the name of the airport, rail passengers and visitors to the airport might assume that they would be able to tap out using a contactless card when arriving at the airport from London stations.[4]
London stations served by the Stansted Express nonetheless have ticket barriers with readers for contactless and Oyster cards because they are also served by other trains on which PAYG can be used. This means it is possible for a passenger to board a Stansted Express train having entered the station using their card, and then travel to Stansted Airport, where they are charged a penalty for travelling without a valid ticket. This has led to accusations that Stansted Express is operating a scam by penalising passengers who are unaware that they have done anything wrong;[5] in 2019 it was reported that the number of penalty charges issued at Stansted Airport was 16,000 per year.[6] The plan of rolling out contactless (and even Oyster) to Stansted is subject to 'necessary funding and approvals [sic] from the Department for Transport'.[7] TheMayor of London,Sir Sadiq Khan has expressed his interest in the rollout of contactless payment on the line to remove the current confusion with the system in 2024.[8]
In September 2024, it was reported that Stansted Express services to Stansted Airport, along with 47 unnamed stations across London and South-East England, will be included in contactless and oyster card payments from the second half of 2025 with £27 million of government funding.[9]
As part of the 1,300 new carriages to expand the UK's passenger rail fleet, Stansted Express was designated to receive 120 new vehicles. In February 2009, it was announced thatBombardier Transportation would produce the new trains.[10] Bombardier announced on 2 April that a contract had been signed for the delivery of the 120 coaches between December 2010 and March 2011.[11] The first of the newClass 379 units entered passenger service on 3 March 2011. The Class 379s were later replaced byClass 745/1s, the first of which entered service on 28 July 2020.[12][13]
| Class | Image | Type | Top speed | Number | Routes operated | Built | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| mph | km/h | ||||||
| 745/1FLIRT |  | EMU | 100 | 161 | 10 | Liverpool Street –Stansted Airport | 2018–2020 |
Stansted Express originally used a fleet of fiveClass 322EMUs until it was decided to change to a dedicated fleet of nineClass 317/7EMUs in 2000, further supplemented by twelveClass 317/8s in 2006. The displaced Class 322s were redeployed on several other routes/franchises around the country before settling into their former role inScotland, working services betweenGlasgow/Edinburgh andNorth Berwick; they stayed there for some time before transferring toNorthern Rail, working out ofLeeds. They eventually returned into workings out of London Liverpool Street on the GEML, as Greater Anglia needed replacements for the Class 360s sent to EMR. They are planned to be put out of service by the end of 2022. Following the arrival of the new Class 379 units on Stansted Express services, the Class 317/8s were used alongside Class 317/5 and 317/6 units as a common pool. However, since Abellio took over the East Anglia franchise on 5 February 2012, all but one of the Class 317/7s have been scrapped.[citation needed]
| Class | Image | Type | Top speed | Number | Routes operated | Built | Withdrawn | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| mph | km/h | |||||||
| 317/7 |  | EMU | 100 | 160 | 9 | Liverpool Street –Stansted Airport | 1981–1982 | 2011 |
| 317/8 |  | EMU | 100 | 160 | 12 | 1981–1982 | 2011 | |
| 322 |  | EMU | 100 | 160 | 5 | 1990 | 2000 | |
| 379Electrostar | .jpg) | EMU | 100 | 160 | 30 | 2010–2011 | 2020 | |
| Preceded by | Sub-brand of West Anglia Great Northern franchise 1997–2004 | Succeeded by West Anglia Great Northern West Anglia Great Northern franchise |
| Preceded by West Anglia Great Northern West Anglia Great Northern franchise | Sub-brand of Greater Anglia franchise 2004–2012 | Succeeded by One Greater Anglia franchise |
| Preceded by National Express East Anglia Greater Anglia franchise | Sub-brand of Greater Anglia franchise 2012–2016 | Succeeded by Greater Anglia East Anglia franchise |
| Preceded by Abellio Greater Anglia Greater Anglia franchise | Sub-brand ofEast Anglia franchise 2016–present | Incumbent |
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