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Thursday 1 Sep 2022

Ilford station goes step-free as new entrance building opens for Elizabeth line passengers

Region & Route:

Eastern: Anglia

• Ilford station’s new, modern entrance building opens today to passengers
• Upgrades include three new lifts providing step free access between street and platforms
• Network Rail’s station upgrade programme for Crossrail is substantially completed.

Elizabeth line passengers using Ilford station from today, will start to benefit from significant improvements following the opening of a new entrance building on Cranbrook Road. Network Rail, has built a new, modern station entrance that is accessible from street to platform via three new lifts.  

The new entrance building is a modern, bright and spacious ticket hall with an improved gateline to encourage ease of movement into and out of the station. For the majority of visitors to Ilford and regular passengers at the station, the new entrance will serve as a gateway to the town centre. The staffed ticket office will provide passengers with assistance and ticketing services along with ticket machines to enable self-service.

The opening of three new lifts provides step-free access to all platforms for the first time ever since the station’s opening in 1839, significantly improving access to Elizabeth line services for all passengers.

Local MP Sam Tarry, Redbridge Council members and local business leaders, together with representatives from Network Rail, Crossrail Ltd, Transport for London and train operator MTR, attended an event to mark the completion of the new entrance on Tuesday, to help celebrate the benefits that the new Elizabeth line will deliver for all Ilford passengers travelling into London. 

The opening of Ilford station’s new entrance building also represents the significant completion of all major station upgrade work by Network Rail for the Crossrail project in east and west London. These completed station upgrades include new and refurbished ticket hall entrances and offices, new lifts, platform extensions, new and refurbished footbridges, a bay platform at Shenfield and a complete rebuild of the station at Abbey Wood in south-east London.

Ilford station passengers can now be proud of their station and can look forward to the next stage of the opening of the Elizabeth line from Sunday 6 November 2022. This will allow passengers to travel directly into stations in central London.

Under Secretary of State for Transport, Baroness Vere said: “The Elizabeth line is a fantastic state-of-the-art service offering cheaper and faster travel across London and everyone deserves to be able to access it. As a result of almost £3 billion of Government funding to make stations along the line more accessible, Ilford station has been rebuilt into a spacious new ticket hall with three new lifts to make travel across London a reality for everyone.”

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “It is great news that the improvements to Ilford station, which serves the new Elizabeth line, have now been completed. From today, passengers will benefit from a spacious new ticket hall, new lifts and improved access to ticketing services and customer information.

“These upgrades at Ilford station form part of our promise to make travel easier, more comfortable, and more accessible for millions of passengers, boosting connectivity across London and the South East as we build a better London for everyone.”

Ellie Burrows, Network Rail’s route director for Anglia said: “Having completed the new station entrance building for Ilford, passengers will start to benefit from a modern, spacious facility with access to the Elizabeth line. It is a fantastic improvement for Ilford and the new lifts will make a huge difference to everyone that wants to travel on the Elizabeth line which is already revolutionising the way passengers get across London.

“The opening of Ilford station’s new entrance is the last major piece of work for Network Rail’s stations upgrade programme for Crossrail which is a significant achievement by thousands of people for current and future generations of rail users.”

Howard Smith, TfL's Director of the Elizabeth line, said: "Ilford station’s new entrance is a significant and important improvement for our customers. I’m very pleased that people with mobility needs as well as those with children in buggies or customers carrying heavy luggage can now access the transformational Elizabeth line from this station with greater ease, improving their journeys."

Sam Tarry, Member of Parliament for Ilford South said: “It was a huge honour to officially open the new and improved Ilford station. The enhancements are a major win for our Ilford community, and it will also serve as a timely boost to businesses across the town and borough. It also marks an important step in improving our local infrastructure, which will help to encourage people to increasingly shift away from our roads and onto public transport as we all play our part in the fight against the climate crisis."

The Leader of Redbridge Council, Cllr Jas Athwal said: “The opening of the new entrance to Ilford station is a big step forward towards a bright future for our borough. Ilford is just one of four Elizabeth Line stations in Redbridge and will help boost our local economy while better serving local commuters, improving our connection to other areas in London and beyond whilst relieving pressure on the central line.”