Romford–Upminster line

The first line proposed to link Romford to the north shore of the River Thames was put forward by the Thames Haven Railway and Dock Company who proposed a 16 miles (26 km) line from Romford to Shell Haven. An Act of Parliament was obtained in 1836 and powers were renewed 10 years later but no work was ever commenced.[3]

Interest in a connection to the Thames waned with the building of the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway (LT&SR) but after that company gained independence from the Great Eastern Railway (GER) interest increased again and in 1882 the Romford and Tilbury Railway proposed a line from Romford to the LT&SR at Grays. This line was linked to another proposed line from Tilbury to Gravesend which included a tunnel beneath the Thames but the line failed to gain parliamentary support.[3]

The following year the GER themselves proposed a line from Romford passing between Hornchurch and Upminster and then connecting directly to Tilbury Docks and in competition the LT&SR submitted their own proposal and it was this proposal that was authorised the following year.[4]

The line as originally built was a branch of the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway (LT&SR) and opened on 7 June 1893 providing the LT&SR with a link to the Great Eastern Railway (GER) at Romford. The LT&SR had requested use of Romford but the GER opposed this and made a counter-offer to lease the line between Romford and Upminster. This in turn found no favour with the LT&SR who eventually constructed a separate station. For the first three years the LT&SR were able to share goods facilities at Romford, but 1896 they constructed their own small goods yard where the branch joins the Great Eastern Main Line and with access to Victoria Road. Additional freight business came after the Midland Railway takeover of the LT&SR when a private siding was added at Romford for a builders' merchants.[4]

Initially there were 8 trains per day between Romford and Grays with a reduced service on Sundays. Trains were operated by tank engines while freight was usually hauled by a small tender engine.[4] With the opening of the station at Emerson Park an additional late train provided connection to a train leaving Fenchurch Street just after midnight for the use of returning theatergoers.[5]

Part of a 1904 Railway Clearing House junction diagram showing the line between Romford and Upminster

Romford–Upminster line
mi+ch Great Eastern Main Line to Liverpool Street 0+00 Romford Great Eastern Main Line to Norwich 1+64 Emerson Park LTS line to Fenchurch Street │ District line via Tower Hill 3+30 Upminster unbuilt connection to District line Upminster depot London, Tilbury & Southend line via Ockendon London, Tilbury & Southend line to Shoeburyness

Emerson Park Halt was opened on 1 October 1909 with a run-round loop was constructed 500 yards to the west to enable extra trains to run between Emerson Park and Upminster. Push-pull working began in 1934 using MR 0-4-4T engines and the service frequency was increased.[6] As locomotives were no longer required to run round their trains the loop was no longer needed and was removed in circa 1936. Provision of services reversing at Emersion Park ceased on nationalisation in 1948.[7]

In the April 1920 timetable there are 27 down (towards Tilbury) and 22 up (towards Romford) trains a day. There were six through trains to Grays, four to Tilbury and five short runs between Emerson Park and Upminster, with a similar number of return trains. On Sundays there were nine trains in each direction.[8] By 1939 this had increased to 35 down trains and 27 up services on weekdays, still with nine in each direction on Sundays and a similar service pattern.[9] The London, Tilbury and Southend Railway was purchased by the Midland Railway in 1912 and was amalgamated into the London, Midland and Scottish Railway on 1 January 1923. The line became part of British Railways on 1 January 1948, initially as part of the London Midland Region and then the Eastern Region from 20 February 1949. The short workings between Emerson Park and Upminster were eliminated with all services on the line calling at Upminster, Emerson Park and Romford from the 1949 timetable.[10] After this time services were taken over by N7 tanks and from February 1951 the Sunday service was removed.[6]

From 17 September 1956, Metro-Cammell Lightweight diesel multiple units from Stratford replaced the steam service and a twice-hourly service was introduced, effectively doubling the frequency.[6] In 1956 Upminster was enlarged and a new underground depot opened and the end through service from Romford to Grays ceased. To accommodate the truncated service, from 20 April 1957 a new bay platform numbered six opened at Upminster and as a result the link between the branch and the LT&S line was removed in 1959 effectively making it part of the Great Eastern route.

A survey of passenger numbers was carried out in 1964 as part of the Beeching report and a closure notice was rapidly published. Local opposition was loud and organised and the closure was rejected, mainly due to the large number of commuters using Emerson Park Halt. A further attempt at closure was made around 1970 but use of the line was increasing and the attempt again failed, but freight traffic was withdrawn with the yard at Victoria Road closing in 1974 after the private siding had succumbed a few years earlier.[11] By the late 1970s the service was in the hands of Cravens DMUs.[1]

At the end of diesel operation there were 31 journeys each way every day except Sunday where there was no service. There was also no service on public holidays.[12]

The line was electrified in the 1980s and electric trains using a single Class 315 unit based at Ilford began operating on 17 April 1986.[13] Following the privatisation of British Rail, passenger services were operated by First Great Eastern from 1997 to 2004, National Express East Anglia from 2004 to 2012 and Greater Anglia from 2012 to 2015. Under this franchise services were operated by Class 321 units.[14] The line transferred to become part of the London Overground network in May 2015 and services were again provided by a single Class 315 unit.[15] Sunday service was restored from the 13 December 2015 timetable. From 5 October 2020 the line has been operated using British Rail Class 710 rolling stock, taking over from British Rail Class 315 and British Rail Class 317 rolling stock.

• Jackson, Alan A (December 1979). "Romford to Grays". Railway World. Ian Allan.
• Kay, Peter (1997). The London Tilbury and Southend Railway Vol 2. ISBN 1-899890-19-X.
• Oakley, Michael (1978). Eastern Region South. Diesel Enthusiast's Pocket Guide. Vol. 1. Truro: Bradford Barton. ISBN 0 85153 402 3.