# Stansted Airport railway station

Stansted Airport railway station is a railway station serving London Stansted Airport in Essex, England. The terminus of a dedicated branch line off the West Anglia Main Line, the station is 36 miles 67 chains (59.3 km) down the line from London Liverpool Street station, to which a dedicated service called the Stansted Express operates.
The station and branch line were opened in 1991 by British Rail to coincide with the completion of the airport's new terminal building. With over 9 million passengers from 2023-2024, it is the busiest station in Essex, the second busiest in the East of England, and the sixteenth busiest in the country outside of London.

## History

The construction of the station and its branch line was part of the development of Stansted into London's third airport. In June 1985, the UK Parliament approved the expansion of the airport, and in November 1985, British Rail submitted a proposal for a rail link to the airport, which included a new double-track branch line connecting to the West Anglia Main Line, north of Stansted Mountfitchet station (which at the time was called Stansted railway station). The line included a bored tunnel under the airport's runway, designed by Sir William Halcrow & Partners, and built by John Murphy Ltd.
Construction began in 1988, and the branch was completed in 1991 at a cost of £44 million. The station opened on 19 March 1991, alongside the new terminal building. It became fully operational following its inauguration by Queen Elizabeth II, who travelled on the first Stansted Express service from London Liverpool Street.

## Layout

Stansted Airport railway station is situated in a concrete box structure at ground level, directly beneath the terminal building, with the western end of the platforms which left open. It was designed with three platforms, located at ground level beneath the terminal. Platforms 1 and 3 run the full length of the station and are used for Stansted Express and Norwich services. The shorter platform number 2 is used for the CrossCountry-operated services to Birmingham New Street. In 2011 platform 1 was extended to accommodate two trains simultaneously in combinations of up to 16 coaches, and platform 2 was extended to accommodate four-coach trains.
Currently ticket checks are completely manual for both arriving and departing passengers. This can lead to long queues and crowding, especially soon after an arrival of a terminating service. With the planned introduction of the contactless travel payment option pending, gated ticket barriers are expected to be installed.

## Future Plans

The station was designed with passive provision to become through-station, to allow for a possible future extension of the railway line towards Braintree. Proposals for this extension have periodically resurfaced, including a 2020 review by Essex County Council exploring the feasibility of reintroducing the Bishop's Stortford–Braintree branch line in Essex.

## Services

Services at Stansted Airport are operated by Greater Anglia (including services under the Stansted Express brand) and CrossCountry.
The typical off-peak service in trains per hour (tph) is:
* 4 tph to London Liverpool Street via Tottenham Hale, of which:
** 2 tph call at Bishop's Stortford
** 2 tph call at Harlow Town, of which 1 also calls at Stansted Mountfitchet
* 1 tph to Norwich via Cambridge and Ely
* 1 tph to Birmingham New Street via Cambridge, Ely, Peterborough, Leicester and Nuneaton
| Preceding station | National Rail | Following station |
| Stansted Mountfitchet, Bishop's Stortford or Harlow Town | Greater Anglia Stansted Express London Liverpool Street – Stansted Airport | Terminus |
| Audley End | Greater Anglia Norwich – Stansted Airport | Terminus |
| Cambridge | CrossCountry Birmingham New Street – Stansted Airport | Terminus |