Seven Kings railway station

Seven Kings railway station is on the Great Eastern Main Line serving the district of Seven Kings in the London Borough of Redbridge, east London. It is 8 miles 46 chains (13.8 km) down the line from London Liverpool Street and is situated between Ilford and Goodmayes. Its three-letter station code is SVK and it is in Travelcard Zone 4. The station was opened on 1 March 1899 by the Great Eastern Railway. It is currently managed by Transport for London and is on the Elizabeth line between Shenfield and Heathrow Airport.

Seven Kings Elizabeth line
Station entrance seen in May 2022
Seven Kings is located in Greater London
Seven Kings
Seven Kings
Location of Seven Kings in Greater London
LocationSeven Kings
Local authorityLondon Borough of Redbridge
Managed byTransport for London
OwnerNetwork Rail
Station codeSVK
DfT categoryC2
Number of platforms4
AccessibleYes[1]
Fare zone4
National Rail annual entry and exit
2017–18Decrease 2.960 million[2]
2018–19Increase 3.168 million[2]
2019–20Decrease 3.157 million[2]
2020–21Decrease 1.286 million[2]
2021–22Increase 2.317 million[2]
Key dates
1 March 1899Opened
Other information
External links
WGS8451.5635°N 0.0969°E / 51.5635; 0.0969
 London transport portal

History

Seven Kings station was opened on 1 March 1899. Before the London Underground's Central line was extended from Stratford via Gants Hill to Newbury Park in 1947, Seven Kings was one of two junctions for the Fairlop Loop to Woodford via Hainault. Seven Kings West Junction (used for freight, excursion and empty stock traffic) was closed in 1956, though the other connection, from Ilford, was severed as early as 1947 due to the expansion of the Ilford sheds, which are visible from the western end of Seven Kings' platforms. The carriage sheds comprise a large depot which includes two workshops.

Accidents and incidents

On 23 January 1963, eight people were injured in a collision between two trains on the main line just outside of Seven Kings station. An express train from Harwich Parkeston Quay to London passed a signal at danger and ran into the rear of a Southend-London stopping service at "fairly low speed". The express train was subsequently found to have a fault with one of its brakes. A Ministry of Transport report on the incident stated that the express train's driver "cannot be excused entirely from responsibility" given his passing of the red signal. The line was reopened four hours after the incident.[3]

Elizabeth line

In June 2017 new Class 345 trains began entering service in preparation for the opening of Crossrail. New lifts, signage, help points, customer information screens and CCTV were installed. The platforms at Seven Kings are too short for the 200 metres (220 yd) long 9-carriage trains, so selective door opening is utilised to prevent the doors opening in one carriage.[4]

Location

Seven Kings is the closest station to Ilford EMU Depot.

London Buses routes 86 and N86 serve the station.[5]

Services

As of the May 2023 timetable, the typical Monday to Friday off-peak Elizabeth line service is:

During peak times service frequency is increased.

To facilitate staff access to Ilford depot, there is an early-morning service operated by Greater Anglia from Colchester to Liverpool Street that calls at Seven Kings.

Preceding station Elizabeth line Following station
Ilford
towards Heathrow Terminal 5 or Paddington
 Elizabeth line Goodmayes
towards Shenfield

References
  1. Standard Tube Map (PDF) (Map). Not to scale. Transport for London. November 2022. Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 November 2022. Retrieved 12 November 2022.
  2. "Estimates of station usage". Rail statistics. Office of Rail Regulation. Please note: Some methodology may vary year on year.
  3. Ministry of Transport. "RAILWAY ACCIDENT REPORT ON THE COLLISION which occurred on 23rd January 1963 near SEVEN KINGS STATION in the EASTERN REGION BRITISH RAILWAYS" (PDF) – via Railways Archive.
  4. Mansfield, Ian. "Elizabeth line trains are too long for some stations". ianVisits. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
  5. "Buses from Seven Kings" (PDF). TfL. May 2023. Archived (PDF) from the original on 27 May 2023. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
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