Ilford Station has gained a new southern entrance, as part of the Crossrail works to upgrade the station ahead of the Elizabeth line opening.

The new entrance sits on the far end of the station from the main entrance, where an existing footbridge exists and links to a smaller, and recently refurbished northern entrance. As a result, the station now has three entrances.

Having an additional permanent entrance from Ilford Hill should save time for customers alighting buses to the south of the station as they will not have to walk around to the main entrance. The entrance also provides additional capacity to support the expected rise in passenger numbers when the Elizabeth line opens.

The entrance capacity is rated at 25 per cent above what they expect the demand to be in 2026.

The new entrance is set back from the main road, so as part of the planning for the new blocks of flats built on some former office car parks, so a wide pedestrian route was left to make wayfinding for the new entrance more obvious from the road. A new TfL sign has also been placed on the main road, Ilford Hill to advertise the presence of the station entrance.

The new entrance has five standard ticket barriers, and one wide gate, and a couple of ticket machines. It has a ramp down to the adjacent platform, and step-free access to the other platforms is via the lifts currently being added at the main station entrance.

Inside the new entrance, a display screen will show the departure times for the buses along the main road, so people will know if they can casually walk to the bus, or maybe a bit faster.

The existing footbridge gives a route to the other platforms for those who don’t need the lifts. The footbridge has not, however, been opened up as public access, so it can’t be used as a shortcut by people wanting to save walking around the station.

The new entrance was originally proposed in 2015 and has been built using funding from the Greater London Authority Housing Zone Grant and the TfL Growth Fund as well as further support from Redbridge Council.