Ongar tube station is a closed London Underground station in the town of Ongar, Essex. Until its closure in 1994, it was the easternmost point of the Central Line.
It was first opened by the Eastern Counties Railway on 1 April 1865, serving principally as a goods station taking agricultural produce from the nearby farms into central London. Steam locomotives operated by British Rail for the Underground ran a shuttle service from Epping to Ongar from 1949 to 1957, when the line was electrified and fully taken over by the Underground's Central Line. However the shuttle service continued.
It has two principal claims to fame: Firstly, John Betjeman, the Poet Laureate, expressed a desire to be Ongar stationmaster upon his retirement. Secondly, the sand drag at the very end of the rails — intended to help slow trains that overshot the stopping mark — was said to be (and maybe still is) home to a breed of harmless scorpion.
The entire Epping to Ongar branch was a single track line with one passing place at North Weald station: this restricted operating flexibility. It was therefore not capable of heavy used, and the line was reportedly never profitable. It was finally closed on 30 September 1994. The station and the line are now in the ownership of a private company who, at time of purchase, publicly stated their intention to run commuter services once again, but the 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 any commuter service provision. The current owners are the Epping Ongar Railway, a heritage railway company who run heritage trains on Sundays over the former Epping and Ongar line.