Redbridge Underground Station

Redbridge is a London Underground station on Eastern Avenue in the Redbridge district of Ilford in East London, on the Hainault Loop of the Central line, in Zone 4.

The station was opened on 14 December 1947. Construction had begun in the 1930s but was delayed by the onset of the Second World War. During the war, the completed train tunnels at Redbridge were used by the Plessey company as an aircraft parts factory. The station building was designed by renowned Tube architect, Charles Holden, who also designed the other two below ground stations on the branch. Originally, the station was to have been named "West Ilford", then this changed to "Red House", before the final decision was made on "Redbridge" (also given in the plans as "Red Bridge".)

History and Location

Plessey opened their wartime munitions factory in the (at the time) incomplete tube tunnels between Gants Hill and Wanstead in 1942, and production lasted until 1945. Since the station was built, a large roundabout has been constructed next to it, being a junction between the A406 (originally the terminal section of the M11), and the A12.

Redbridge is often described as the shallowest deep level (as opposed to cut and cover) station on the network, as it is only 5.2 metres (17 ft) beneath the surface. However, this is misleading as the station tunnel was constructed by the cut and cover method, with the running lines descending into genuine tube tunnels at either end of the platforms - similar to the Central line platforms at Mile End.

In July 2011 it was granted Grade II listed building status by English Heritage.

It was also mentioned in the Department S episode The Last Train To Redbridge, although the actual station does not appear in it.

Text imported from Wikipedia article "Redbridge tube station" and modified on July 23, 2019 according to the CC-BY-SA 4.0 International license.