Leytonstone () is a

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or as the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent home counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The Undergro ...

station in

Leytonstone Leytonstone ( ) is an area in East London, England, within the London Borough of Waltham Forest. It adjoins Wanstead to the north-east, Forest Gate to the south-east, Stratford to the south-west, Leyton to the west, and Walthamstow to the nor ...

, in the

London Borough of Waltham Forest The London Borough of Waltham Forest () is an Outer London, outer London boroughs, London borough formed in 1965 from the merger of the municipal boroughs of Municipal Borough of Leyton, Leyton, Municipal Borough of Walthamstow, Walthamstow an ...

, east

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England. It is a stop on the Central line, between

Leyton Leyton ( ) is a town in East London, England, within the London Borough of Waltham Forest. It borders Walthamstow to the north, Leytonstone to the east, and Stratford to the south, with Clapton, Hackney Wick and Homerton, across the Ri ...

and

Snaresbrook Snaresbrook is a district in the London Borough of Redbridge, in East London. It is located east of Charing Cross. The name derives from a corruption of Sayers brook, a tributary of the River Roding that flows through Wanstead to the East. ...

(on the direct route towards Epping) or

Wanstead Wanstead () is an area in East London, England, in the London Borough of Redbridge. It borders South Woodford to the north, Redbridge to the east and Manor Park to the south, with Leytonstone and Walthamstow to the west. It is located 8 m ...

(on the Hainault loop towards Woodford) stations. The station is on the boundary of Zones 3 and 4, close to Whipps Cross University Hospital. It is a terminus for some services and returns westbound.

History

The railway line from Loughton Branch Junction (on the Lea Valley line between and ) to

Loughton Loughton () is a suburban town and civil parish in the Epping Forest District of Essex. The town borders Waltham Abbey, Theydon Bois, Chigwell, Chingford, and Buckhurst Hill, and lies north-east of Charing Cross. For statistical purposes ...

was built by the

Eastern Counties Railway The Eastern Counties Railway (ECR) was an English railway company incorporated in 1836 intended to link London with Ipswich via Colchester, and then extend to Norwich and Yarmouth. Construction began in 1837 on the first at the London end. Co ...

and opened on 22 August 1856. A station at Leytonstone was opened on the same day. In turn, from 1862, it became part of 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 ...

system and part of the

London & North Eastern Railway The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) was the second largest (after LMS) of the " Big Four" railway companies created by the Railways Act 1921 in Britain. It operated from 1 January 1923 until nationalisation on 1 January 1948. At tha ...

in 1923; it was 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. The station was first served by the Central line on 5 May 1947, when it became the temporary terminus of the line, passengers changing 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 A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

Sir

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English film director. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featu ...

(born 13 August 1899 in Leytonstone), the

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. * 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

taser Taser (stylized in all caps) is a line of handheld conducted energy devices (CED) sold by Axon Enterprise (formerly Taser International). The device fires two small barbed darts intended to puncture the skin and remain attached to the targe ...

s against him. 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 David William Donald Cameron, Baron Cameron of Chipping Norton (born 9 October 1966) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016. Until 2015, he led the first coalition government in the UK s ...

Service

Leytonstone station is a stop on the Central line. Train frequencies vary throughout the day, but generally operate every 5–10 minutes between 05:36 and 00:56 eastbound, and between 05:32 and 00:07 westbound.

Connections

London Buses London Buses is the subsidiary of Transport for London (TfL) that manages most bus services in London, England. It was formed following the Greater London Authority Act 1999 that transferred control of London Regional Transport (LRT) bus s ...

routes 66, 145, 257, 339, W13, W12, W15, W16, W19 and night route N8 serve the station and bus station.

Gallery

File:Leytonstone tube station 01.jpg, The westbound platforms at Leytonstone, looking west File:Leytonstone station eastbound east.JPG, View of platforms File:Leytonstone station junction.JPG, Leytonstone junction, showing the diverge between Epping and Hainault branches, the latter diverging and heading underground File:Leytonstone station entrance west.JPG, Western entrance facing Grove Green Road and bus stand. File:Leytonstone tube station - Hitchcock Gallery- Hitchcock The Director (geograph 4081878).jpg, 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
{{Central line navbox Tube stations in the London Borough of Waltham Forest Former Great Eastern Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1856 Central line (London Underground) stations London Underground Night Tube stations Proposed Chelsea-Hackney Line stations Tube station