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{{Short description|Former London Underground station}}
{{For|the railway station in Pakistan|Ongar (Pakistan) railway station}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=November 2016}}
{{Infobox
| type = Station on [[heritage railway]]
| country = England
| grid_name = [[Ordnance Survey National Grid|Grid reference]]
|original = [[Great Eastern Railway]]▼
| grid_position = {{gbmapscaled|TL550034|25|TL550034}}
|pregroup = Great Eastern Railway▼
|preservation = [[Epping Ongar Railway]]▼
▲ |platforms = 1
|years = {{start date|1865|04|24|df=y}}▼
| postgroup = [[London and North Eastern Railway]]
|events = Station opened▼
|events1 = Transferred to LT Central line▼
|events2 = Electrified▼
|events3 = Goods yard closed<ref name=UN591>Hardy 2011, pp. 175-183.</ref> ▼
|events4 = Station closed▼
|events5 = Reopened in preservation by Epping Ongar Railway Volunteer Rail Society▼
|
|
|
| years7 = 25 May 2012
}}
'''Ongar railway station''' is a station on the [[Epping Ongar Railway]] [[heritage railway|heritage line]], and a former [[London Underground]] station in the town of [[Chipping Ongar]], [[Essex]]. It was opened in 1865 by the Great Eastern Railway, and became part of [[London Transport Executive|London Transport]] in 1949. Until its closure as such in 1994, it was the easternmost point of the [[Central line (London Underground)|Central line]] and the eastern buffers remain the point from which all distances on the London Underground are measured.
Line 39 ⟶ 42:
[[File:Ongar railway station in 1980.jpg|left|thumb|London Underground train calls at the station in 1980]]
[[File:Ongar Tube Station.jpg|left|thumb|Ongar station, with the sign of the present operator, Epping Ongar Railway (EOR)]]
The station was opened by the [[Great Eastern Railway]] on 24 April 1865,<ref name=CULG1>{{cite web |first=Clive |last=Feather |date=31 March 2011 |url=http://www.davros.org/rail/culg/central.html#dates |title=Central line, Dates |work=Clive's Underground Line Guides |
Although the rest of the branch was [[Railway electrification system|electrified]] by London Underground before operations were taken over from British Railways, trains on the section north of [[Epping tube station|Epping]] continued to be hauled by [[steam locomotive]]s as a separate shuttle service. The service was operated by British Railways for the Underground until 18 November 1957, when the line was electrified and electric trains took over from steam.<ref>Lee 1970, p. 31.</ref>
The entire Epping to Ongar branch was a [[Single track (rail)|single track]] line with one [[Passing loop|passing place]] at [[North Weald railway station|North Weald station]], although this loop was taken out of service between 1888 and 1949, and again from 1976. Between 1949 and 1976 two Tube trains could use the branch, although they were limited to four cars in length because of the restriction on the available traction current, as well as by the restricted platform lengths at North Weald and Blake Hall. The service was reduced to one train after the southbound track at North Weald was lifted. It was therefore never suitable for heavy use, and the line was reportedly never profitable. For much of its latter years, the service only operated during Monday to Friday peak hours, and London Transport closed [[Blake Hall tube station|Blake Hall station]], the least used on the entire system, in 1981. The line itself continued in use and there was a brief re-introduction of all day services in 1990. However, a system wide cost-cutting exercise saw the service return to peak hours soon afterwards, with an even more skeletal service than before. The line was under threat of closure for many years, and it was finally closed on 30 September 1994.
Line 49 ⟶ 52:
{{main|Epping Ongar Railway}}
The station and the line are now in the ownership of a private company, Epping Ongar Railway Ltd who, at time of purchase, publicly stated their intention to run commuter services again, but the claimed lack of platform availability at London Underground's Epping station at the west end of the line has to date proven an insuperable obstacle to this. The Epping Ongar Railway Volunteer Rail Society ran heritage trains on Sundays over the former Epping and Ongar line from 2004 until 2007, when the line was closed following a change in ownership.<ref>{{cite web |first=Paul |last=Skinner |year=2011 |url=http://eorailway.co.uk/your-visit/history/ |title=Epping Ongar Railway - Line history |
[[File:Ongar EOR Roundel.svg|right|thumb|EOR totem]]
The line was reopened to the public on 25 May 2012.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Thomas |first=Cliff |date=July 2012 |title=Essex railway becomes Britain's newest steam line |
Ongar Station, as with the rest of the 6.05-mile branch reaching to the outskirts of Epping station, is currently{{clarify timeframe|date=January 2017}} undergoing significant improvement and infrastructure works. These are designed with the long-term future of the branch and to enable the use of locomotive-hauled trains (hauled by steam and diesel locomotives), all in keeping with its use as a heritage railway.
Line 58 ⟶ 61:
In addition a GER signalbox, originally located at [[Spellbrook]], has been rescued and rebuilt to replace the Ongar signalbox demolished by LU in the 1980s, and the platform is being improved to facilitate access.
Local bus services connecting Ongar railway station to [[Brentwood, Essex|Brentwood]], [[Chelmsford]], [[Epping, Essex|Epping]] and [[Harlow]] are provided by [[NIBS Buses]], Central Connect and [[First Essex]]. The station is also occasionally served by heritage bus route 339, operated by the Epping Ongar Railway, which serves the [[Shenfield railway station|Shenfield]], Ongar and Epping stations using a fleet of preserved London Transport buses.<ref>{{Cite news|last=O'Brien |first=Zoie |url=https://www.guardian-series.co.uk/news/10389922.vintage-bus-returns-routes/ |title=A bus which used to run the 339 route in Epping Forest is to return, this weekend |work=East London and West Essex Guardian Series |date=30 April 2013|access-date=28 December 2022}}</ref>
==Other information==
The sand drag at the very end of the rails — intended to help slow trains that overshot the stopping mark — was said to be home to a breed of harmless [[scorpion]] and featured in a 1979 episode of the [[BBC]]'s ''[[Wildlife on One]]''. They had been released there by a station foreman who was a keeper of exotic pets.<ref>{{cite web |first=James |last=Lyons |date=20 January 2007 |url=http://www.eohistory.bravehost.com/few.html |title=Epping Ongar Railway History - Ongar station |
In
|title = London Underground, 10th edition
|first1 = John
Line 71 ⟶ 72:
|publisher = Ian Allan
|year = 2003
|isbn = 0
|page = [https://archive.org/details/londonsundergrou1000glov/page/109 109]
|url = https://archive.org/details/londonsundergrou1000glov/page/109
Line 80 ⟶ 81:
|publisher = Ian Allan
|year = 2011
|isbn = 978
|page = 100}}</ref
The Royal Navy's [[Mark 24 Tigerfish|Tigerfish torpedo]] was known as Project ONGAR during development.<ref>Public Record Office ADM 290/289</ref>
There were various ill-fated attempts mainly by the [[Great Eastern Railway]] later the [[London and North Eastern Railway]] to extend beyond Ongar station in the past including to [[Great Dunmow]], [[Bury St Edmunds]] via Great Dunmow and back on to the GER mainline at [[Chelmsford railway station|Chelmsford]] by way of [[Margaretting]]. There was also a few light railway schemes like the Hedingham & Long Melford Railway and others that proposed a route from Ongar to [[Yeldham railway station|Yeldham]] at [[Great Yeldham]] via Great Dunmow, [[Haverhill, Suffolk|Haverhill]] and [[Shenfield]]. <ref>{{cite book |last1=Jackson |first1=Alan A |title=London's Local Railways |date=22 March 1999 |publisher=Capital Transport Publishing |isbn=1854142097 |edition=2nd}}</ref> <ref>{{cite book |last1=Abercrombie |first1=Patrick |title=Greater London plan 1944 |date=January 1, 1944 |publisher=H.M. Stationery Off}}</ref> <ref>{{cite web |title=THE COLONEL 65 Winter 2001 |url=https://colonelstephenssociety.co.uk/onewebmedia/Colonel%2065.pdf |website=Colonel Stephens Society}}</ref>
==See also==
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==External links==
{{commons category|Ongar railway station}}
* {{cite web |first=Clive |last=Feather |title=Central Line |url=http://www.davros.org/rail/culg/central.html |work=Clive's Underground Line Guides |
* {{cite web |first=James |last=Lyons |date=20 January 2007 |title=Epping Ongar Railway History |url=http://www.eohistory.bravehost.com/index.html |
* {{cite web |first=Paul |last=Skinner |year=2011 |url=http://www.eorailway.co.uk/ |title=Epping Ongar Railway |
* [http://www.ltmcollection.org/photos/results/results.html?IXsearch=ongar&button=GO%21 London Transport Museum Photographic Archive]
**{{
**{{
* [http://www.abandonedstations.org.uk/Ongar_Branch_2.html#Ongar London's Abandoned Tube Stations - Ongar station]
* [http://www.abandonedstations.org.uk/Ongar_Branch.html London's Abandoned Tube Stations - Epping to Ongar branch]
{{adjacent stations
|system1=National Rail|hide-system1=y
|header1=[[List of British heritage and private railways|Heritage railways]]
{{rail line|previous=[[North Weald railway station|North Weald]]|route=[[Epping Ongar Railway]] |col={{heritage rail colour|line=Epping Ongar Railway}} }}
|header3 = Historical railways
|system4 = London Underground
|line4 = Central|note-mid4=Epping-Ongar branch | left4 =Blake Hall | to-left4 = Epping
|note-row5=
{{rail line |previous=[[Blake Hall tube station|Blake Hall]]<br /><small>Line open, station closed</small> |route=[[Great Eastern Railway]]<br /><small>Loughton-Ongar</small> |col={{GER colour}} }}
{{closed london underground stations}}
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