Ilford railway station
Ilford station is a suburban railway station in East London. Services are now operated by one, having previously been operated by First Great Eastern, and most trains stopping at Ilford run between Shenfield and Liverpool Street.
The station has five platforms, three "inbound" (headed west into Liverpool Street) and two "outbound" (towards Shenfield). One of the inbound platforms, platform 5, is a dead-end, allowing peak services to start at Ilford — very useful when many peak trains from Shenfield are already full by the time they reach Ilford in the mornings. Platforms 1 and 2 are generally not used, except for during engineering works, as the two adjacent tracks are mainly reserved for fast trains that do not call at suburban stations. Immediately to the west of the station is a bridge that allows the fast tracks to change from being on the south side of the suburban tracks to being on the north. The tracks cross the River Roding at the same point.
The platforms are several metres below street-level, as the road rises up to pass over the railway line. The north side of the station is edged by an embankment lined with housing; the south side is lined with large buildings (mainly the local British Telecom office) and platform level approximates to street level by the far end of the station. Despite the steps to the platforms, wheelchair lifts are available by prior arrangement.
Ilford is the first of the better served stations east of Stratford, as the intermediary stations are not served by all "one Great Eastern Metro" trains. It is proposed that Crossrail trains will call at Ilford.
