Chafford Hundred
Chafford Hundred railway station in 2010
Chafford Hundred Location of Chafford Hundred in Essex
Location	Chafford Hundred
Local authority	Borough of Thurrock
Grid reference	TQ589787
Managed by	c2c
Owner	Network Rail
Station code	CFH
DfT category	E
Number of platforms	1
Accessible	Yes[1]
Fare zone	A
National Rail annual entry and exit
2018–19	2.912 million[2]
2019–20	2.816 million[2]
2020–21	0.882 million[2]
2021–22	1.916 million[2]
2022–23	2.128 million[2]
Railway companies
Original company	British Rail
Key dates
30 May 1995[3]	Opened as Chafford Hundred
Other information
External links	Departures Layout Facilities Buses
WGS84	51°29′09″N 0°17′15″E / 51.4859°N 0.2876°E / 51.4859; 0.2876
London transport portal

Chafford Hundred railway station,^[4][5] also known as Chafford Hundred Lakeside station, is located on a single-track branch line of the London, Tilbury and Southend line, serving the area of Chafford Hundred as well as Lakeside Shopping Centre in Essex. It is 20 miles 77 chains (33.7 km) down the line from London Fenchurch Street via Upminster; it is situated between Ockendon and Grays. Its three-letter station code is CFH.

The station has a single platform and was opened on 30 May 1995 by Railtrack.^[6] Today, all passenger train services are operated by c2c, which also manages the station. Although outside the London fare zones 1 to 6, the station became part of the Oyster card pay-as-you-go network in 2010.^[7] According to the ORR, the station is the busiest single-platform station in the UK, beating the next busiest (Windsor and Eton Central) by some 900,000 passengers per year.^[8]

History

The single-track line through the area was opened in 1893 by the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway (LTSR) as part of a branch from Romford to Grays via Upminster. By the late 20th century service on the line had been reduced to a relatively infrequent shuttle between Upminster and Grays, calling at the only intermediate station at Ockendon.

Following the opening of Lakeside Shopping Centre in 1990 a new single-platform station was opened on 30 May 1995 by Railtrack.^[9] The £1 million station was funded by the Chafford Hundred development consortium.^[10] Initially a free shuttle bus connected the station to the shopping centre, with a direct pedestrian bridge link replacing the bus in 2000. The shuttle train service was eventually extended beyond Upminster to Fenchurch Street in London and beyond Grays to Southend Central in Southend-on-Sea, with service frequency increased to two trains an hour in each direction.

Usage is moderate for a suburban station and increasing; to expand capacity the buildings were rebuilt in 2006. The "Lakeside" suffix has occasionally been added to the name to not only reflect its location in the town of Chafford Hundred but also its proximity to the shopping centre.^{[citation needed]} However, most sources including c2c and TfL, continue to simply call the station Chafford Hundred for sake of brevity.^[4][5]

Services

The typical off-peak service frequency is:

• 2 trains per hour (tph) to London Fenchurch Street;
• 2 tph to Southend Central.

Connections

Ensignbus routes 33 and X80 serve the station.^[11]