IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Latham Place, UPMINSTER, RM14 1DU

Hall Lane leads north away from Upminster town centre towards a junction with the A127. The bus stop is served by two routes, 248 and 347, one of which calls here on its way from Romford and the other on its way to Romford.

A view north along Hall Lane.

View eastwards, towards Southend and Shoeburyness, ex-LT&SR Fenchurch Street - Shoeburyness direct line, also branch to Romford and Grays, currently operated by c2c: eastern terminus of the London Underground District Line.

A London Underground control centre at the eastern terminus of the District Line.

The line between London and Tilbury was opened on 13th April 1854 by the London Tilbury & Southend Railway (LTSR) on their new line to Tilbury, which split from the Eastern Counties Railway (ECR) at Forest Gate. The London, Tilbury & Southend Railway (LTSR) direct line from Bow to Barking (avoiding Stratford and Forest Gate) was constructed from west to east in 1858. The route to Southend, however, was not direct, taking a considerable diversion from Barking via Dagenham Dock to serve the port at Tilbury. Between 1885 and 1888 a new direct route from Barking to Pitsea was constructed, and the station at Upminster opened in 1885. This is now the C2C line. The Whitechapel & Bow Railway allowed through services of the Metropolitan District Railway to operate through to Upminster from 1902 but the only station between Barking and Upminster was at Dagenham East which was opened in 1885. The Metropolitan District converted to electric trains in 1905. On 12th September 1932 the District line was extended over new tracks alongside the existing line between Barking and Upminster. The present C2C line therefore dates from 1885 and the present District line from 1932. For a fuller history see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upminster_station Upminster station is now the eastern terminus of District line trains, with a large depot to the east of the station. It is also served by C2C trains between Fenchurch Street and Shoeburyness as well as the self-contained shuttle service to Romford via Emerson Park Halt. The Romford to Upminster Line was constructed in 1893 as a branch of the London, Tilbury & Southend Railway. This view looks beyond the buffers of the Romford line and down the tracks towards the District line train depot.

London Overground have now taken over responsibility for the single-track railway between Upminster and Romford, which is being worked with a 4-car Class 321 unit at present, seen here after arrival from Romford. The line has a 30-minute frequency of service. There is one intermediate station at Emerson Park.