Seven Kings
Station entrance seen in May 2022
Seven Kings Location of Seven Kings in Greater London
Location	Seven Kings
Local authority	London Borough of Redbridge
Managed by	Elizabeth line
Owner	Network Rail
Station code	SVK
DfT category	C2
Number of platforms	4
Accessible	Yes[1]
Fare zone	4
National Rail annual entry and exit
2018–19	3.168 million[2]
2019–20	3.157 million[2]
2020–21	1.286 million[2]
2021–22	2.317 million[2]
2022–23	3.782 million[2]
Key dates
1 March 1899	Opened
Other information
External links	Departures Layout Facilities Buses
WGS84	51°33′49″N 0°05′49″E / 51.5635°N 0.0969°E / 51.5635; 0.0969
London transport portal

Seven Kings railway station is on the Great Eastern Main Line serving the district of Seven Kings in the London Borough of Redbridge, east London. It is 8 miles 46 chains (13.8 km) down the line from London Liverpool Street and is situated between Ilford and Goodmayes. Its three-letter station code is SVK and it is in Travelcard Zone 4. The station was opened on 1 March 1899 by the Great Eastern Railway. It is currently managed and served by the Elizabeth line between Shenfield and Heathrow Airport.

History

Seven Kings station was opened on 1 March 1899. Before the London Underground's Central line was extended from Stratford via Gants Hill to Newbury Park in 1947, Seven Kings was one of two junctions for the Fairlop Loop to Woodford via Hainault. Seven Kings West Junction (used for freight, excursion and empty stock traffic) was closed in 1956, though the other connection, from Ilford, was severed as early as 1947 due to the expansion of the Ilford sheds, which are visible from the western end of Seven Kings' platforms. The carriage sheds comprise a large depot which includes two workshops.

Accidents and incidents

On 23 January 1963, eight people were injured in a collision between two trains on the main line just outside of Seven Kings station. An express train from Harwich Parkeston Quay to London passed a signal at danger and ran into the rear of a Southend-London stopping service at "fairly low speed". The express train was subsequently found to have a fault with one of its brakes. A Ministry of Transport report on the incident stated that the express train's driver "cannot be excused entirely from responsibility" given his passing of the red signal. The line was reopened four hours after the incident.^[3]

Elizabeth line

In June 2017 new Class 345 trains began entering service in preparation for the opening of Crossrail. New lifts, signage, help points, customer information screens and CCTV were installed. The platforms at Seven Kings are too short for the 200 metres (220 yd) long 9-carriage trains, so selective door opening is utilised to prevent the doors opening in one carriage.^[4]

In early 2019 step free access was introduced to Seven Kings station.^[5]

Location

Seven Kings is the closest station to Ilford EMU Depot.

London Buses routes 86 and N86 serve the station.^[6]

Services

Most services at Seven Kings are operated by the Elizabeth line using Class 345 EMUs, with a very limited service operated by Greater Anglia using Class 720 EMUs.

The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is:^[7][8]

• 8 tph to London Paddington of which 2 continue to Heathrow Terminal 5
• 8 tph to Shenfield

During the peak hours, the station is served by a number of additional services between London Liverpool Street and Gidea Park. These services do not call at Whitechapel. The station is also served by a single early morning Greater Anglia service from Colchester to London Liverpool Street.

On Sundays, the service to and from Shenfield is reduced to 4 tph, with alternating services running only as far as Gidea Park.

Preceding station		Elizabeth line		Following station
Ilford towards Heathrow Terminal 5		Elizabeth line		Goodmayes towards Shenfield
National Rail
Stratford		Greater Anglia Great Eastern Main Line Limited Service		Romford