Roding Valley tube station
Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use British English Template:Infobox London station
Roding Valley is a London Underground station. It is situated in Buckhurst Hill in the Epping Forest district of Essex, straddling the boundary between that council and Greater London (the London Borough of Redbridge). The station is on the Hainault loop of the Central line between Chigwell and Woodford stations.<ref name=stn>Template:Cite map/Standard Tube Map</ref> However, geographically it is midway between Woodford and Buckhurst Hill stations. The station is located between Station Way and Cherry Tree Rise (off Buckhurst Way). It has been in Travelcard Zone 4 since 2 January 2007.<ref name=stn />
With around Template:Tubeexits list million passenger journeys recorded in Template:Tubeexits list, Roding Valley is the Template:Tubeexits list rank<ref name=infobox_stats_ref_tube_2021/> Underground station and hence the station with the lowest annual patronage.
LocationEdit
Template:One source It was originally named Roding Valley Halt (though while the full name appeared on tickets and timetables, the suffix Halt appeared on only some of the station signage), and was opened to serve new housing developments between Buckhurst Hill and Woodford. It was named after the River Roding which is close by, to the east. The track rises towards Chigwell and crosses the Roding over an impressive viaduct. Woodford Junction, where the Hainault branch leaves the main Central line to Epping, is very close to the station – Roding Valley's platforms are visible from the train in either direction between Woodford and Buckhurst Hill (on the left of the train towards Woodford).<ref>Full Journey on the Central line from West Ruislip to Epping – YouTube</ref>
Roding Valley station has a very small catchment area, which explains its low usage. To the east is an undeveloped flood plain of the river Roding. A short distance to the north is Buckhurst Hill station. To the north-west is open space, while the areas to the south are served by Woodford station, which has a better train service. The station straddles the border between Redbridge and Epping Forest. The southern exit is in Redbridge, while the northern exit is in Epping Forest.
HistoryEdit
The tracks through Roding Valley were opened on 1 May 1903 by the Great Eastern Railway (GER) on its Woodford to Ilford line (the Fairlop Loop).<ref name=CULG_01>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The station was not opened until 3 February 1936 by the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER, successor to the GER).
As part of the 1935–1940 New Works Programme of the London Passenger Transport Board the majority of the Woodford to Ilford loop was to be transferred to form the eastern extensions of the Central line. Although work started in 1938 it was suspended at the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 and work was only resumed in 1946. In connection with the alterations required for the electrification of the line, the station was closed from 29 November 1947.<ref name=CULG_01/> It reopened, with its present name, and was first served by the Central line from 21 November 1948.<ref name=CULG_01/> The rather basic station buildings (all-wooden on the Woodford-bound side) were replaced by more substantial structures by 1949.
From the mid-1960s until the early 1990s the Woodford-Hainault section was largely operated separately from the rest of the Central line, using four-car (later three-car) trains of 1960 Stock.<ref name=centralline>Railfanning London's Railways – Central line</ref> The three car units had a 1938 tube stock middle carriage. These trains were adapted for Automatic Train Operation (ATO): the Woodford-Hainault section became the testing ground for ATO on the Victoria line.<ref name=centralline /> Some Victoria line (1967 Stock) trains were also used to operate this section<ref name=centralline /> and named FACT, "Fully Automatic Controlled Train". The separate operation has now been abolished, the 1960 Stock has been withdrawn and through trains to Central London now operate via Hainault.<ref name=rvtubestn>On the branch line…from Woodford to Hainault</ref> Because of this, it is normally quicker to travel to Woodford and change there,<ref name=centralline /> as trains to central London run frequently from that point. At the buildup to the peak periods, some trains starting from Hainault depot operate to central London via Grange Hill, Chigwell, Roding Valley and Woodford.<ref name=rvtubestn /> This is done for operating convenience but passenger demand for these services is particularly high.
The station todayEdit
Roding Valley is the most lightly used station on the Underground. It is also one of the three tube stations not to have ticket barriers.<ref>FOI request detail: stations with / without ticket barriers on LU and LO</ref> As of 2025 it is also the only tube station on the London Underground network to have a single ticket machine, as opposed to the minimum of two elsewhere.<ref>FOI request detail: List of current London Underground ticket machine types</ref> The station underwent refurbishment in 2006 by Metronet.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
ServicesEdit
Roding Valley station is on the Hainault loop of the Central line between Chigwell to the west and Woodford to the east. The train service (which used to end at 8pm each day) has been extended to midnight to take into account the rising passenger numbers. The typical off-peak service in trains per hour (tph) is:
At morning rush hour, there are three trains that run to West Ruislip.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
ConnectionsEdit
London Buses route W14 serves the station.<ref name=bus>Monkhams Inn – Bus</ref>