The Hall Farm Curve is a disused length of railway line in

Walthamstow Walthamstow ( or ) is a town within the London Borough of Waltham Forest in east London. The town borders Chingford to the north, Snaresbrook and South Woodford to the east, Leyton and Leytonstone to the south, and Tottenham to the west. At ...

, East London, that connected Chingford station with Stratford station until the closure of the section of line in September 1968. The track was lifted in 1970.

Route

Located between Hall Farm Junction and Lea Bridge Junction, the Hall Farm Curve connected two of the Lea Valley Lines – that running between Stratford and Tottenham Hale, and the Chingford branch line. It was situated opposite the existing Clapton Curve, which connects Liverpool Street and Tottenham Hale. The Coppermill Curve connected Chingford and Tottenham Hale, the track was lifted in 1960. Lea Bridge railway station is located a short distance to the south of the junction on the Stratford line. It was closed in 1985, but reopened in spring 2016.

History

The curve was opened on 26 April 1870 as the original route from London to Walthamstow. When the direct line to Clapton opened in 1872, it was used by a regular service between Stratford and Chingford until 1940. Weekend services continued on the line until 1950. In 1960 the Chingford line was electrified, and overhead wires erected over the Hall Farm curve, but not the Stratford line. It was still used as a diversionary and freight route, using diesel haulage. However, British Rail closed the line in 1968 and removed the track from the curve in 1970.

Possible reinstatement

Campaigns have been run since the 1990s to have both the curve and Lea Bridge station reinstated. Lea Bridge station re-opened in 2016. Legal powers to re-lay the spur were obtained by British Rail in 1992, but not exercised. The proposal has the support of Waltham Forest London Borough Council; Jennette Arnold, Labour Party politician and member of the London Assembly representing the

London Boroughs The London boroughs are the current 32 local authority districts that together with the City of London make up the administrative area of Greater London, England; each is governed by a London borough council. The present London boroughs wer ...

of Hackney,

Islington Islington ( ) is an inner-city area of north London, England, within the wider London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's #Islington High Street, High Street to Highbury Fields ...

and Waltham Forest; Stella Creasy, Member of Parliament for Walthamstow; the

Liberal Democrats, the Chingford and Woodford Green Liberal Democrats, the Chingford and Woodford Green Labour Party; and Railfuture, an independent organisation campaigning for better rail services in the UK.

Transport for London Transport for London (TfL) is a local government body responsible for most of the transport network in London, United Kingdom. TfL is the successor organization of the London Passenger Transport Board, which was established in 1933, and His ...

(TfL) ran a study on the feasibility of reopening the curve for 2016 that produced a result with a benefit-cost ratio ranging between 8:1 and 14:1 depending on the length of trains involved. In 2007, the Greater Anglia Route Utilisation Strategy published by

Network Rail Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and railway infrastructure manager, infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. ...

suggested that construction of the curve could be possible by 2019 or later. Designs for new services run using the curve have been suggested to reduce journey times between Chingford and Stratford to 20 minutes, and high-frequency journeys between Walthamstow Central and Stratford to 12 minutes from the current duration of about 35 minutes. In January 2017 the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, responded to a petition for the reinstatement of the curve, stating that whilst TfL "supports the principle of improving connectivity between Waltham Forest and Stratford", it would not be possible due to expenses involved in purchasing non-railway land and constructing additional platforms at Stratford. In January 2019, Campaign for Better Transport released a report identifying the line was listed as Priority 2 for reopening. Priority 2 is for those lines which require further development or a change in circumstances (such as housing developments). In 2023, the

Greater London Authority The Greater London Authority (GLA), colloquially known by the Metonymy, metonym City Hall, is the Devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved Regions of England, regional governance body of Greater London, England. It consists of two political ...

announced it proposed to reopen the curve.Council reveals plan to revive Hall Farm Curve '' Rail'' issue 981 19 April 2023 page 13

References

External links

Map of the Hall Farm Curve
shown in the London Borough of Waltham Forest'
LDF Core Strategy Proposed Submission, Appendix 5 - Proposals Map Changes

Satellite view of the site of Hall Farm Curve on Google Maps

{{Proposed rail infrastructure projects in the United Kingdom Standard gauge railways in England Closed railway lines in London Proposed railway lines in London Railway lines closed in 1968 1970 disestablishments in England Walthamstow