
London Overground Hackney Downs Station
Hackney Downs Station
Address: Dalston Lane, Hackney, London E8 1LA
Opened: 27 May 1872
Station Code: HAC
Fare Zone: 2
London Overground Line(s) Served:
Lea Valley Lines (Chingford, Cheshunt & Enfield Town Branches)
Service Pattern(s):
Eight trains per hour to London Liverpool Street
Four trains per hour to Chingford
Two trains per hour to Cheshunt
Two trains per hour to Enfield Town
Interchange(s)
London Overground North London Line from Hackney Central (via walkway)
National Rail (Greater Anglia) West Anglia Main Line
Station History
Hackney Downs Junction was opened on the first part of their new line towards Stoke Newington and Enfield Town by the Great Eastern Railway on 27 May 1872. This was followed less than a month later by another line being opened between the station and Coppermill Junction, just south of Tottenham Hale, however, passenger services on both of these new lines did not commence until 1 August 1872 and November 1873 respectively.
Due to a marked increase in passenger traffic, the line between the station and Bethnal Green was increased from two to four tracks, and this led to Hackney Downs Station being extensively remodelled from the original two-platform layout to four platforms in 1894. This was followed two years later by the dropping of the Junction suffix from the station name.
Grouping of the railways in 1923 due to the Railways Act 1921 saw the Great Eastern Railway amalgamated with other companies to become part of the London & North Eastern Railway. Under this new ownership, the existing semaphore signalling on the line was replaced by three-aspect searchlight signals in 1935 allowing the closure of the South signal box.
Upon Nationalisation of the railways in 1948, the LNER was absorbed into the Eastern Region of British Railways. It was under this new ownership that electrification of the lines through the station was achieved in the late 1950s, although electric train operation did not commence until 21 November 1960. As part of this scheme, the remaining signal box at the station was demolished and replaced by a new structure located on platforms 2/3, opening in May 1960.
Nothing of note occurred at the station for the next 20 years when, in the early 1980s the original station ticket office was demolished, being replaced by the current example. Also at this time, the wooden roof of the island platform was removed and replaced with one constructed from metal sheeting. The roofs of the side platforms were left in their existing state except for the removal of their fascia boards.
Sectorisation of the railways in 1986 saw Hackney Downs become part of Network Southeast. This continued until the Railways Act 1993 saw operations transferred to West Anglia Great Northern in January 1997, before further changes saw the franchise awarded to National Express in 2004.
The final changes of management regarding the Lea Valley lines happened in October 2012 and May 2015 with Abellio Greater Anglia taking the reins before Arriva Rail London assumed operations under the London Overground brand.
Under the London Overground banner, the pedestrian link that once existed between the station and nearby Hackney Central, which had closed with the cessation of services through the later station in 1944, was reopened removing the need to exit each station and transfer along street level after Hackney Central was reopened in 1985.
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