Leytonstone is a London Underground station in Leytonstone in the London Borough of Waltham Forest, east London. It is on the Central line, on the boundary of Zones 3 and 4. Towards Central London the next station is Leyton, while going east from Leytonstone, the line divides into two branches. On the direct route to Woodford and Epping the next stop is Snaresbrook, and on the Hainault loop it is Wanstead. The station is close to Whipps Cross University Hospital.

Leytonstone
Eastern entrance on Church Lane
Leytonstone Location of Leytonstone in Greater London
Location	Leytonstone
Local authority	London Borough of Waltham Forest
Managed by	London Underground
Station code	LES[1]
Number of platforms	3
Fare zone	3 and 4
OSI	Leytonstone High Road [2]
London Underground annual entry and exit
2017	11.00 million[3]
2018	10.05 million[4]
2019	9.82 million[5]
2020	5.65 million[6]
2021	4.26 million[7]
Railway companies
Original company	Eastern Counties Railway
Pre-grouping	Great Eastern Railway
Post-grouping	London and North Eastern Railway
Key dates
22 August 1856 (1856-08-22)	Opened
5 May 1947	Central line service introduced
1 September 1955	Goods yard closed[8]
Other information
External links	TfL station info page Departures Layout Facilities Buses
WGS84	51.5683°N 0.0083°E / 51.5683; 0.0083
London transport portal

History

The railway line from Loughton Branch Junction (on the Lea Valley line between Stratford and Lea Bridge) to Loughton was built by the Eastern Counties Railway, and opened on 22 August 1856.[13] A station at Leytonstone was opened on the same day.[14] In turn it became, from 1862, part of the Great Eastern Railway system and then in 1923 part of the London & North Eastern Railway before being transferred to London Transport in 1947. This formed part of the "New Works Programme 1935 – 1940" that was to see major changes at Leytonstone with the station becoming the junction of the existing Loughton-Epping-Ongar line, newly electrified, with the new tube tunnel running under Eastern Avenue towards Newbury Park. This work saw a complete reconstruction of the station along with the removal of the level crossing at Church Lane and its replacement by an underbridge. The work stopped in May 1940 due to wartime priorities; further delays were caused by the station buildings being hit by a German bomb in January 1944. During the war, the new tunnels were used as an aircraft component factory; the part closest to Leytonstone was a public air-raid shelter.[15]

The station was first served by the Central line on 5 May 1947 when it became the temporary terminus of the line, passengers changing on to steam shuttle onwards to Epping. This ceased on 14 December 1947 with the extension of Underground services to Woodford and Newbury Park.

Notable events

• In honour of the centenary of the birth of film director Sir Alfred Hitchcock (born 13 August 1899 in Leytonstone), the London Borough of Waltham Forest commissioned the Greenwich Mural Workshop to create a series of mosaics of Hitchcock's life and works in the tube station. Work was started in June 2000 and the mosaics were unveiled on 3 May 2001.[16]
• Three people were injured inside the station's ticket hall during the evening of 5 December 2015, with one suffering serious knife injuries. The Metropolitan Police arrested the attacker inside the station after using Tasers against him.[17] Video footage later emerged of the attacker repeatedly shouting "this is for Syria". A remark shouted at the attacker by a witness, "You ain’t no Muslim, bruv", resulted in considerable media comment and was subsequently praised by the then Prime Minister, David Cameron.[18]

Connections

London Buses routes 66, 145, 257, 339, W13, W14, W15, W16 and W19 and night route N8 serve the station and bus station.

Gallery

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Leytonstone tube station.

• 
  The westbound platforms at Leytonstone, looking west
• 
  View of platforms
• 
  Leytonstone junction, showing the diverge between Epping and Hainault branches, the latter diverging and heading underground
• 
  Western entrance facing Grove Green Road and bus stand.
• 
  Hitchcock The Director

References

External links

• YouTube video of a train arriving on the eastbound platform
• Leytonstone Underground Station: Hitchcock Mosaic
• Early photograph of the original 1856 station, from Church Lane

Preceding station	London Underground			Following station
Leyton towards Ealing Broadway or West Ruislip		Central line		Snaresbrook towards Epping
				Wanstead towards Hainault or Woodford via Hainault
Out of system interchange
Preceding station	London Overground			Following station
Leyton Midland Road towards Gospel Oak		Gospel Oak to Barking line transfer at Leytonstone High Road		Wanstead Park towards Barking Riverside
Historical railways
Leyton Line and station open		Great Eastern Railway Eastern Counties Railway Loughton branch		Snaresbrook Line and station open

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