Ilford Depot is a

traction maintenance depot A motive power depot (MPD) or locomotive depot, or traction maintenance depot (TMD), is where locomotives are usually housed, repaired and maintained. They were originally known as "running sheds", "engine sheds" or just "sheds". Facilit ...

located in

Ilford Ilford is a large List of areas of London, town in East London, England, northeast of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Redbridge, Ilford is within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London. It had a po ...

Greater London Greater London is an administrative area in England, coterminous with the London region, containing most of the continuous urban area of London. It contains 33 local government districts: the 32 London boroughs, which form a Ceremonial count ...

, England. The site is used for train stabling and maintenance by

Greater Anglia Greater Anglia (legal name Transport UK East Anglia Limited) is a British train operating company owned as a joint venture by Transport UK Group and Mitsui & Co. It operates the East Anglia franchise, providing the commuter and inter-city se ...

Elizabeth line The Elizabeth line is a railway line that runs across Greater London and nearby towns, operating similarly to the Réseau Express Régional, RER in Paris and the S-Bahn systems of German-speaking countries. It runs services on dedicated infras ...

London Overground London Overground (also known simply as the Overground) is a Urban rail in the United Kingdom, suburban rail network serving London and its environs. Established in 2007 to take over Silverlink Metro routes, it now serves a large part of Greate ...

and

Alstom Alstom SA () is a French multinational rolling stock manufacturer which operates worldwide in rail transport markets. It is active in the fields of passenger transportation, signaling, and locomotives, producing high-speed, suburban, regional ...

Location

The depot is situated on the

Great Eastern Main Line The Great Eastern Main Line (GEML, sometimes referred to as the East Anglia Main Line) is a major railway line on the British railway system which connects Liverpool Street station in central London with destinations in east London and t ...

and is on the north side of the line to the east of Ilford station, between that station and Seven Kings railway station.

History

Facilities for an engine pit at Ilford Goods Yard were first provided in 1889 by the

Great Eastern Railway The Great Eastern Railway (GER) was a pre-grouping British railway company, whose main line linked London Liverpool Street to Norwich and which had other lines through East Anglia. The company was grouped into the London and North Eastern R ...

. With burgeoning commuter rail traffic, a three road engine shed was provided next to Ley Street which opened in 1901. A fire in May 1909 saw a number of locomotives damaged but repairs were authorised quickly and the structure repaired. In 1903 a triangular junction was built just to the north of this site linking the main line to the Fairlop Loop. The engine shed became part of the LNER in 1923. In 1931 the allocation primarily consisted of N7 0-6-2T locomotives and the site was adjacent to carriage sidings and a coal depot. Plans were drawn up in the 1930s to electrify the suburban lines from Liverpool Street to Shenfield at 1,500VDC and late in the decade work was started on implementing this. Additionally plans were being made to extend the Central Line east from Liverpool Street and take over the Epping branch and Fairlop Loop. Ilford was chosen as the location for the new depot and as a result the engine shed and carriage sidings were closed in May 1937. The site was cleared and the steel frame of the first shed was erected by June 1940 although it was not until 1949 that it had a roof. As well as the site above the new depot required the land occupied by the link from Ilford to the Fairlop Loop which was subsequently closed on 29 November 1947. The link between Seven Kings and the Fairlop Loop was retained until 1956 for freight traffic before total closure after which the depot was extended further east towards . Until a remodel in 2016, as part of the

Crossrail Crossrail is a completed railway project centred on London. It provides a high-frequency hybrid commuter rail and rapid transit system, akin to the Réseau Express Régional, RER in Paris and the S-Bahn systems of German-speaking countries, kn ...

works, Ilford TMD had four sheds: * The first two of which were opened in 1949 for DC EMUs and were converted to AC in 1960. One was a six-tracked shed with four through-roads sheds and the other a three-road dead end shed; * The third building is the largest, opened in 1960 for AC EMUs, being a sixteen-road dead-ended shed. This was built on the land occupied by the Seven Kings to Fairlop Loop curve; * The fourth building is a one-track through-road shed which was opened around 2000. In 2021, a carriage washing machine was installed; it began operation in September following an investment of £1.2 million.

Allocation

The first EMUs allocated to the depot were 92 Class 306 EMUs which were fitted with sliding doors These operated services between and from February 1949. Class 306 Green

The depot was allocated a 1914

North Eastern Railway (United Kingdom) The North Eastern Railway (NER) was an English railway company. It was incorporated in 1854 by the combination of several existing railway companies. Later, it was amalgamated with other railways to form the London and North Eastern Railwa ...

EB1 class locomotive numbered 26510 as a shunter. This last ran on 4 November 1960 after which the shed was converted to AC operation. Between 1952 and 1954 the depot hosted a number of Class 76 locomotives which were tested on local passenger and freight services. During the 1960s as electrification was extended to Southend, Colchester, Clacton and Walton more EMUs were introduced and allocated to Ilford. In the early 1980s the Class 306s were replaced by Class 315 units. Around 1987, the depot's allocation included classes Class 302, Class 305, Class 307, Class 308 and 315 EMUs. As these classes were withdrawn in the 1990s and 2000s they were replaced by Class 317, Class 321, Class 379 and Class 360. In June 2017, new trains began entering service in preparation for the opening of the

which led to the withdrawal of the Class 315 EMUs in 2022.

Facilities

Within the site is a sixteen-road shed, operated by Greater Anglia, which was formerly used for maintenance of Class 321 units. Class 379 units were maintained by

Bombardier Transportation Bombardier Transportation was a Canadian rolling stock and rail transport manufacturer, with headquarters in Toronto and Berlin. It was one of the world's largest companies in the rail vehicle and equipment manufacturing and servicing industry. ...

on one of the roads, with Class 360 units maintained by

Siemens Mobility Siemens Mobility GmbH is a division of Siemens. With its global headquarters in Munich, Siemens Mobility has four core business units: Mobility Management, dedicated to rail technology and intelligent traffic systems, Railway Electrification, ...

on another. On introduction of Class 710 and Class 720 Alstom Aventra in 2019/20, all maintenance staff and facilities were transferred to Bombardier Transportation, which was acquired by Alstom in 2021. A six-road overhaul and refurbishment shed is present, with three roads being electrified. In 2024 this building is used for light maintenance and exam work for the Class 345 Aventra and

Bombardier Electrostar The Bombardier Electrostar (sold as the ADtranz Electrostar until 2001) is a family of electric multiple unit, electric multiple-unit (EMU) passenger trains manufactured by Bombardier Transportation (formerly Adtranz) at their Derby Litchurch L ...

. A wheel lathe is present.

2023 Allocation

As of 2023, the depot's main rolling stock allocation consists of: * Class 720, leased by

* Class 710, leased by

* Class 345, leased by the

In 2023, there were two Class 08s on site used for shunting purposes. 08 700 is owned by

Harry Needle Railroad Company The Harry Needle Railroad Company (HNRC) is a railway spot-hire company, based at Barrow Hill Engine Shed in Derbyshire. Prior to 2010 the company also recovered valuable spares from scrapped railway vehicles, either on the vehicle owners' site ...

and 08 573 is owned by

RMS Locotec RMS Locotec is a railway company based in Wolsingham, England. It has specialised in industrial railway management, infrastructure maintenance, and rolling stock leasing; one major customer was its former sister company and rail freight operator ...

; both are contracted to

References

Bibliography

* * * {{Elizabeth line navbox Railway depots in London Transport in the London Borough of Redbridge