Forest Gate railway station
Forest Gate railway station is on the Great Eastern Main Line serving the residential district of Forest Gate in the London Borough of Newham, east London. It is down-line from London Liverpool Street and is situated between and. Its three-letter station code is FOG and it is in Travelcard Zone 3.
The station was opened in 1840 by the Eastern Counties Railway. It is currently managed by TfL Rail. Train services call at Forest Gate as part of the -Liverpool Street stopping "metro" service. In the future the TfL Rail service will be re-branded as the Elizabeth line as part of the Crossrail project. Eventually, the Elizabeth line service will be extended beyond Liverpool Street to Paddington and onwards to and Heathrow Airport.
History
Forest Gate station first opened in 1840, a year after the line was built, but was closed in 1843, before re-opening on 31 May 1846 following pressure from local residents.On 24 May 1953, at around 4 a.m., three members of train crew were injured in a collision between a freight train and a staff train that occurred east of Forest Gate station. A London-bound freight train that had started out at the goods yard was crossing from the electric line over to the main line when a staff train bound for the sidings passed a signal at danger and collided with the goods train at a speed of about 35 mph. A Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation report blamed the driver of the Gidea Park train for his failure to "pay attention to signals".
Services
The typical Monday-Saturday off-peak service is six trains per hour in each direction between Liverpool Street and Shenfield, reduced on Sundays to four per hour in each direction:| Operator | Route | Rolling stock | Frequency |
| TfL Rail | London Liverpool Street - Stratford - Maryland - Forest Gate - Manor Park - Ilford - Seven Kings - Goodmayes - Chadwell Heath - Romford - Gidea Park - Harold Wood - Brentwood - Shenfield | Class 315, Class 345 | 6x per hour |
Future development
New trains are being phased into service; these will be over in length, necessitating the extension of Forest Gate's platforms, which are currently between and long.Other enhancements will include three new lifts providing access to all platforms, improved lighting and signage, help points, and new ticket machines and gates within a refurbished ticket hall.