Epping Ongar Railway
The station and the line are now in the ownership of a private company, the Epping Ongar Railway Ltd who, at time of purchase, publicly stated their intention to run commuter services again, but the claimed lack of platform availability at London Underground's Epping station at the west end of the line has to date proven an insuperable obstacle to this. The Epping Ongar Railway Volunteer Rail Society ran heritage trains on Sundays over the former Epping and Ongar line from 2004 until 2007, when the line was closed following a change in ownership.
The line was reopened to the public on 25 May 2012. Trains are provided on an hourly basis on Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays, normally departing at xx:10. Last trains are at 17:10 in the summer timetable, (arriving North Weald 17:25), and 15:10 from late October (arriving North Weald 15:25).
Ongar Station, as with the rest of the 6.5 mile branch reaching to the outskirts of Epping station, is currently undergoing significant improvement and infrastructure works. These are designed with the long term future of the branch and to enable the use of locomotive hauled trains (hauled by steam and diesel locomotives), all in keeping with its use as a heritage railway. The station itself has been extensively restored by the teams of volunteers, with all the rooms being restored to their original layouts, opening up bricked up doorways and windows, and restoring the station back to Great Eastern Railway colours (believed to be the only original operational GER station in its original colours). Within the station the former Parcel's Office will be a museum and educational display. In addition a GER signalbox, originally located at Spellbrook, has been rescued and rebuilt to replace the Ongar signalbox demolished by LU in the 1980s, and the platform is being improved to facilitate access.
Read more about this topic: Ongar Railway Station
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