In 1856, the Eastern Counties Railway opened a double-track railway between Stratford and Loughton. In 1865, its successor, the Great Eastern Railway, added a single-track extension from Loughton to Ongar. The popularity of the line led to the doubling of the track between Loughton and Epping in 1892.[9] The line was well served, with 50 trains operating between Liverpool Street and Loughton each day, a further 22 continuing to Epping and 14 more to Ongar.
Loughton to Epping became part of the London UndergroundCentral line on 25 September 1949, leaving the single track line from Epping to Ongar as the last steam-worked section. British Railways continued running Ongar services until 1957 when the line was electrified and became part of the Central line.[10] However, services did not run through to the rest of the Central line except for occasional depot workings, so passengers to/from stations beyond Epping normally had to change platforms for the single-track line to Ongar, North Weald or Blake Hall stations.[11] On 2 November 1981, Blake Hall closed and trains passed through the station. On 30 September 1994 London Underground withdrew the service between Epping and Ongar and subsequently sold off that section of the Central line.
On 11 May 2008 an e-petition calling for the reopening of North Weald and Ongar stations was created on the Downing Street website.[12][13] It closed on 11 December 2008 with 1012 signatures. Part of the Epping-Ongar line is now a heritage railway, the Epping Ongar Railway. Subject to finance and planning, the heritage railway propose to build a new station close to the tube station called Epping Forest as the heritage line cannot run in to the original station.
Epping Station was to be the terminus of the proposed London Underground Chelsea-Hackney line (Crossrail 2).[14] However, since 2013, the route options for this proposed line have been amended to terminate at New Southgate instead and no longer include the Epping branch.[15]
Epping station saw a growth in passenger numbers in the mid 1990s due to the closures of nearby North Weald, Blake Hall and Ongar stations. This growth has continued due to significant development in Epping itself and surrounding villages. Another major contributing factor is that many people living in not too distant towns such as Harlow, Bishop's Stortford, and Chelmsford use the station instead of their own National Rail stations, because it is considerably cheaper to travel to London by London Underground than it is to use National Rail services. Growth is now at such a point where the station's car park is full by 6:30 am on weekdays, and parking around the station (as with other stations on this part of the line, e.g. Theydon Bois and Debden) has become a serious problem for local residents, which in turn has caused many residents and local groups to call for the re-opening of North Weald and Ongar stations to help ease demand on Epping station.[16][17]
The longest possible journey on the London Underground without changing trains is the Central line route between West Ruislip and Epping (34.1 miles / 54.9 km).[18]
In 2023, Epping station had an annual usage of 3.28 million and was the 171st busiest station on the London Underground.[4]
Epping has the largest public London Underground station car park with 519 spaces.[19]
It is the only London Underground station located outside the M25 motorway that is not served by the Metropolitan line.
^Hardy, Brian, ed. (March 2011). "How it used to be – freight on The Underground 50 years ago". Underground News (591). London Underground Railway Society: 175–183. ISSN0306-8617.
^"The Tube". Epping Forest District Council. Archived from the original on 26 November 2009. Retrieved 30 September 2009.
