Epping Ongar Railway
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The Epping Ongar Railway operates on a preserved railway along the final section of the old Great Eastern Railway and London Underground Central Line branch line between Epping and Ongar, with an intermediate station at North Weald. The line was reopened in late 2004 after 10 years of closure, presently operating a Sunday and Bank Holiday service using a Diesel Multiple Unit train, running between Ongar and Coopersale. The service is provided by volunteers who maintain the line as well as run the trains.
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[edit] Heritage railway information
[edit] Service pattern
At present the line runs an hourly service each Sunday and Bank Holiday, beginning on the hour every hour at Ongar, arriving at North Weald at 13 minutes past the hour before departing for Coopersale, and returning to North Weald for pick up and set down at 33 minutes past the hour, subsequently leaving for Ongar. The first train leaves Ongar at 11:00, with the last returning at 15:50 (16:50 between April and September).
[edit] Fares
Prices currently stand at:
Adults: £5.00
Concessions: £3.00
Family (2 adults, 3 children): £12.00
Children under 5 travel free
On special event days: (see External links)
Adults: £7.00
Concessions: £5.00
Family (2 adults, 3 children): £15.00
Children under 5 travel free
These tickets are valid for journeys on as many trains as timetabled on the day of purchase.
[edit] Rolling stock
- Passenger working
- Non-passenger working
- Drewry Shunter - Works number 2566
- Named 'Heather' upon arrival at the railway and given the number D1995
- Ruston 88 RH 512572 diesel
- Drewry Shunter - Works number 2566
[edit] Future plans
- Epping Glade: It is intended to extend trains to Epping, with the current plans having the train terminating at a new station near to the present London Underground Epping station, called Epping Glade.
- Coopersale Halt: The possibility of building a halt at Coopersale village where the train presently stops is under consideration.
- North Weald: It is intended to rebuild the passing loop here. This may in future mean an increased service frequency, and would be a large step towards reintroducing steam trains on the line. With new track panels having been delivered to North Weald. It is hoped the "Cattle dock" will have its track put in, for storage use.
[edit] History
The connection to Ongar was made in 1865 by the Eastern Counties/Great Eastern Railway. The line to Ongar was always single track, and approximately 14 trains each day went as far as the rural station, with the rest terminating at Epping or Loughton.
This remained the case until 1949 when the London Transport Passenger Board's New Works scheme extended the Central Line to Epping using electric trains (taking over the railway from British Rail). The Epping-Ongar branch lost its through trains to London, and a shuttle service between Epping (to connect with trains to London) and Ongar was implemented. The steam shuttle was hired by the London Transport Executive from British Rail, as it was felt there wasn't justification for electrification as far as Ongar unless patronage of the branch rose.
The 1950s saw attempts to improve the service on the branch, and eventually the line was given light electrification in 1957. The low-cost principle of this project meant that the branch could only support 2x4 car trains or 1x8 car train, but the short platforms at North Weald, Blake Hall tube station and Ongar meant that 8 car trains were not a realistic option, and the patronage on each train didn't support this either.
Although the Epping to Ongar branch was normally operated as an isolated branch of the Central Line, for two days every year, through trains were run from London, terminating at North Weald. These trains served the North Weald airshow on the Saturday and Sunday of its opening at the aerodrome almost adjacent to the station. The normal Epping to Ongar shuttle dovetailed with this service passing the terminating train on the adjacent line during its southbound journey. The through train was operated as an extra train on the normal Central Line timetable, but was only 4 cars long.
From the late 1960s onwards it became ever clearer that the line's patronage wasn't growing as had been expected (mainly due to restriction of development in what was now designated Green Belt land), and its level of use in off-peak hours led to a reduced service being implemented along with Blake Hall tube station being closed on Sundays, before being permanently shut in 1981 (it is said that the station, before closure, handled 6 customers per day).
North Weald station's two platforms were both used until 1976 when the southbound tracks were lifted. Until this time, access to the two platforms was controlled from the original Eastern Counties Railway signal box still sited on the southbound platform to this day. Until this occurred, North Weald was the only section of the London Underground network to be signalled using mechanical semaphore signals. Although disused, the illuminated track diagram in the signal box continued to show the progress of trains until the line's closure.
On September 30 1994, the heavily-loss making line was finally closed to the public, with the Central Line now terminating at Epping station. However, the track was left intact along with the stations (albeit in an unmaintained state).
[edit] Reopening
The branch, under its current owners (Epping Ongar Railway Ltd.) and running group (Epping Ongar Railway Volunteer Society), reopened on Sunday 10th October 2004, providing an hourly service between Ongar and North Weald. The line was shortly after extended to Coopersale, although no alighting facilities as yet exist here.
On Sunday 9 October 2005 the line celebrated its 1 year running anniversary, with a large number of people visiting on the day.
In early 2006 between 22 January and 9 April the line was shutdown for engineering works, taking place on Thursdays and Sundays. This involved general station maintenance, rolling stock maintenance and track maintenance. Ongar station remained closed for engineering works and general maintenance and reopened on Sunday 28 May 2006 to passengers, although initially without the use of the station buildings.
The Easter weekend of 2006 saw the Railway's largest number of visitors on a single day since reopening, on both the Sunday and Monday, with more visitors than the 1 year anniversary of the beginning of the new service. The Teddy Bear's Picnic, 2nd Anniversary and Halloween events were also very popular.
[edit] Controversy
The railway has been the source of political wrangling since it was abandoned by London Underground Ltd. Its present owners, Epping Ongar Railway Ltd., are seeking planning permission for a large portion of land at Ongar station for residential development. This has been met with much hostility from local government and local residents who are disgruntled with the lack of progress of the railway by EOR Ltd. (it is believed such progress was stipulated in the original purchase contract between EOR Ltd. and LU Ltd.) and the belief that such development will be detrimental to the future of the railway in terms of rail vehicle storage and maintenance depots. EOR Ltd. hasn't commented regarding the link between the development and the railway, but it is hoped that some money raised from the development may be invested into the railway. The current planning application is awaiting decision by the Planning Inspectorate and a decision should be made in early 2007. It is likely that whether planning permission is given or not, the outcome will have profound consequences for the future of the railway either way.
The Volunteer Society, who presently operate the Sunday service, do not comment on the actions of EOR Ltd. and stress that whatever the outcome of the planning application they will negotiate a deal as best as possible with EOR Ltd. to continue train services over the railway.
[edit] See also
- London Underground Central Line
- Epping Underground station
- North Weald Underground station
- Blake Hall Underground station
- Ongar Underground station
[edit] External links
- Epping Ongar Railway official website - More information can be found at the official site
- Epping Ongar Railway Special Events - A full list of special event days
- Epping and Ongar Railway History - An unofficial site by one of the members of the Volunteer Society on the railway's history.
- London's Abandoned Tube Stations - Photographs of the Epping-Ongar line between 1977 and 1981
