Walthamstow Central station

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Walthamstow Central (Template:IPAc-en) is an interchange station in Walthamstow, east London. It provides southbound Victoria line services of the London Underground, and Weaver line services on the Lea Valley lines of the London Overground. Located in the London Borough of Waltham Forest, the station lies at a distance of Template:Convert from London Liverpool Street in London fare zone 3.

The station is linked to Template:Stnlnk station on the Suffragette line of the Overground by a broad footpath, Ray Dudley Way; an official out-of-station interchange is recognised between the two stations. Walthamstow Central is the closest tube station to Walthamstow Market, the longest outdoor market in Europe.

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History

The station was opened by the Great Eastern Railway (GER) as Hoe Street in 1870 when a line was opened from Template:Rws to a temporary station called Shern Hall Street which was east of the Hoe Street station.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The line to London, that the Chingford branch uses today was opened two years later in 1872 from Hall Farm Junction to Bethnal Green, with the branch also being extended north to Chingford in 1873.

The GER amalgamated with several other railways to create the London and North Eastern Railway at the beginning of 1923.

In 1948 the railways were nationalised and responsibility for operating the station fell to British Railways (Eastern Region).

The line was electrified in the late 1950s with electric services commencing on 12 November 1960. Early services were formed of Class 305 EMUs but initial technical problems with these saw replacements by Class 302 and Class 304 EMUs.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

The station became an interchange station and the eastern terminus of the Victoria line with London Underground services starting on 1 September 1968;Template:Sfn when the station's present name was adopted. When originally approved in 1955, the terminus of the line was to be at Wood Street, a plan dropped in 1961 before construction of the line.Template:Sfn The platforms for the Victoria line (like all stations on the Victoria line) are underground.Template:Sfn

On 31 May 2015, the station's Abellio Greater Anglia services were transferred to London Overground Rail Operations.<ref>TFL appoints London Overground operator to run additional services Transport for London 28 May 2014</ref><ref>TfL count on LOROL for support Rail Professional 28 May 2014</ref>

Description

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General description

The underground station, like many stations on the Victoria line, was built to a low budget.Template:Sfn White ceiling panels were never fixed to the ceilings above the platforms; instead the steel tunnel segments were painted black and used to support the fixtures and fittings, cutting lighting levels. A concrete stairway sits between two escalators instead of a third; this economy caused a disruptive station closure for several weeks in 2004 when both escalators went out of service.

The main entrance to the above-ground station is on the down side, opposite the bus station, which was revamped in summer 2004.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Until August 2015 three staffed ticket windows opened, replaced by improved ticket machines. The entrance to the tube was revamped in early 2006. A smaller entrance is on the up line, facing a car park. Its ticket office is staffed mainly in peak hours.

Major improvements

A subway was built in 2005 under Selborne Road linking a new bus station with a new Victoria line ticket office. The new subway and ticket office was scheduled for spring 2005 but problems with insufficient power capacity to supply two new lifts, planning and contractual errors, delayed the opening until 19 November 2007. The lifts began operation in late 2008 and some building work took longer to finish.

Ticket barriers control access to all platforms.

A footpath link, called Ray Dudley Way, providing a shortcut to nearby Template:Stnlnk, opened in August 2014.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Plans for a new entrance with step-free access to the Victoria line platforms were approved by Waltham Forest council in January 2021 to be part-funded by a redevelopment of the shopping mall.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>