Thirty years after it was initially closed, Lea Bridge Station will be re-opening to passengers next year after repair works are carried out by VolkerFitzpatrick.

The new station will accommodate around 352,000 passengers a year by 2031 and will benefit from two new platforms, a new footbridge, passenger lifts and a station canopy.

Chris Robbins, Leader of Waltham Forest Council, was joined by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Department of Transport, to officially break ground on site and mark the project’s commencement last week. 

Andy Gardner, project director of VolkerFitzpatrick’s rail division said: “To help bring this much needed station back to life for local people is a great opportunity for us. We are pleased to be working with Waltham Forest Borough Council to help deliver this important piece of the jigsaw in their plans for the growth of the area.”

“Lea Bridge Station will really help open Leyton up for growth, giving the area better and faster links to some of London’s crucial transport hubs, and making it a more attractive prospect for developers, businesses and residents,” said Chris Robbins, Leader of the Council.

“For years it’s been a project we have committed to making happen, and going forward it will form the centrepiece of wider plans to rejuvenate the area and create a new Leyton village, spurring even more regeneration and change.”

Works to re-open the station began in July 2015 and once complete in spring 2016, passengers will have direct links to both Stratford and Tottenham Hale stations with journey times of only five minutes to each.