Commuting from Ongar

[frodshamfella]

One of my regrets was never getting to Ongar on the Central line, the other was going on the Aldwych branch. However I wonder if there is anyone on here who used to commute or use the Ongar - Epping shuttle frequently (from any of the stations ). Was it reliable , how many passengers were you travelling with , I presume its missed as even now, it must have been the fastest and the most convenient way to reach the centre of London.

 

[bramling]

One of my regrets was never getting to Ongar on the Central line, the other was going on the Aldwych branch. However I wonder if there is anyone on here who used to commute or use the Ongar - Epping shuttle frequently (from any of the stations ). Was it reliable , how many passengers were you travelling with , I presume its missed as even now, it must have been the fastest and the most convenient way to reach the centre of London.

I never used it regularly, but I did manage to ride it a handful of times in the evening peak in its final year. Certainly wasn’t busy, in fact my memory is the train was virtually empty.

Ironically, both Ongar and North Weald have seen some level of housebuilding since closure. The service would likely be busier now than it was.

 

[Djgr]

When I was living in South Woodford in the mid 1980s I (and my flatmates) used it once to go to a pub in Ongar. On the other hand, I used the Aldwych branch many times, as I worked on the Aldwych.

 

[frodshamfella]

Yes, I wish I'd gone on both those branches.

 

[Taunton]

I went on it a couple of times because I had a business customer IN Ongar. Written about this before here. Travelling that way was viewed as bizarre by them - none of them lived in Ongar, they all commuted in from further out in Essex. Later I just drove there, I was starting from Wanstead (two changes) at the time and it took a quarter of the time, up the M11 and through Abridge, and I could leave when I was ready. Travelling counter-peak I was invariably the only person in the tube car.

 

[StephenHunter]

A lot of the housing now there hadn't been built at that point, I believe.

 

[Rescars]

When I was living in South Woodford in the mid 1980s I (and my flatmates) used it once to go to a pub in Ongar.

Snap! I travelled over it once with a mate. It had a splendidly branch-line feel. IIRC we found a very nice pub in Ongar!

 

[Gloster]

This thread should really be renamed ’Look Back In Ongar’.

 

[MP33]

I travelled on it in the 1970s, when it had an all day service. The ride was very rough, and I believe Blake Hall station was still open.

 

[bramling]

I travelled on it in the 1970s, when it had an all day service. The ride was very rough, and I believe Blake Hall station was still open.

My memory is also the ride was very rough, I think a speed restriction may have been imposed in the final weeks or months. Having said that, in those days ride was quite rough on many open sections of LU.

 

[Gloster]

I travelled on it in the 1970s, when it had an all day service. The ride was very rough, and I believe Blake Hall station was still open.

Blake Hall closed 2 November 1981, presumably to the dismay of the seventeen daily passengers (Sundays Excepted).

 

[frodshamfella]

Snap! I travelled over it once with a mate. It had a splendidly branch-line feel. IIRC we found a very nice pub in Ongar!

Sounds perfect

 

[Tester]

I did it a few times, including once buying a rover ticket (for the following weekend) at Blake Hall - doing my bit to stave off closure!

As I recall the issuing station was marked on the ticket - I will have it somewhere

 

[nw1]

I remember Ongar came up in a previous thread.

Never been that way but I understand the atmosphere at some of the intermediate stations was deeply rural and quite eerie in a way with one of them (Blake Hall, I think?) close to some kind of Cold War radio station situated on top of a small hill.

I suppose it's the kind of branch that was part of what made the late 20th century so good, and the loss of which is part of what makes the 21st century seem anodyne at times in comparison.

I understand Ongar itself is quite a sizeable small town, and I'm surprised more people didn't use the branch as it seems the obvious way to reach London.

 

[Rescars]

And although there are no commuters anymore, the ghosts of the Ongar line will take a long time to be laid to rest, seeing that Ongar is point zero from which all mileages on the Underground are calculated.

 

[Tester]

And although there are no commuters anymore, the ghosts of the Ongar line will take a long time to be laid to rest, seeing that Ongar is point zero from which all mileages on the Underground are calculated.

To be boringly pedantic, kilometrages - as that was the point of the rebasing!

 

[Rescars]

Ooops! Let's agree on "distances"!

 

[The exile]

I never used it regularly, but I did manage to ride it a handful of times in the evening peak in its final year. Certainly wasn’t busy, in fact my memory is the train was virtually empty.

Ironically, both Ongar and North Weald have seen some level of housebuilding since closure. The service would likely be busier now than it was.

The only time I used it it was pretty full - but there was only about a week to go before closure and most people (like me) turned round and headed back to London again.

 

[Bishopstone]

There are several videos on YouTube taken in the years prior to closure, before the ‘closing down’ crowds started to inflate the passenger count.

Generally covering the pm peak, these amateur films suggest Ongar trains were picking-up 15-20 passengers each, at Epping. In the contra-peak direction, they were running almost empty.

It wouldn’t have been an attractive commute, into central London. You have to work late, unexpectedly, or receive an invite to evening drinks, and you’ve missed the last Ongar connection (around 19:00 from Epping) and are forking-out for a taxi, or leaning on the goodwill of family members to pick you up. Likewise in the morning, if you need to see the doctor or dentist before work.

It would also have been a long time sat on the Central line. Chelmsford would have been a far saner commute, if you wanted to live in west Essex.

 

[simonw]

This thread should really be renamed ’Look Back In Ongar’.

There is a well known play about the closure of the library in ongar called book lack in ongar.

 

[Gloster]

There is a well known play about the closure of the library in ongar called book lack in ongar.

That was originally in one of the local papers in the area as the headline for a story about problems for Essex library service. It has often been quoted as one of the wittiest newspaper headlines.

 

[bramling]

I remember Ongar came up in a previous thread.

Never been that way but I understand the atmosphere at some of the intermediate stations was deeply rural and quite eerie in a way with one of them (Blake Hall, I think?) close to some kind of Cold War radio station situated on top of a small hill.

I suppose it's the kind of branch that was part of what made the late 20th century so good, and the loss of which is part of what makes the 21st century seem anodyne at times in comparison.

I understand Ongar itself is quite a sizeable small town, and I'm surprised more people didn't use the branch as it seems the obvious way to reach London.

The reason people didn’t use it was the inflexibility, not particularly frequent, so long waits at Epping if the cards didn’t deal correctly for whatever reason, and if you didn’t make the last train then that was it.

In earlier years there was a more comprehensive service, but the problem here was there just wasn’t the demand to sustain that level of provision. Once the service got reduced the service then became too awkward to be useful for many people.

 

[MP33]

Were there suggestions from time to time. That the line be extended to Writtle, near Chelmsford,

 

[THC]

Were there suggestions from time to time. That the line be extended to Writtle, near Chelmsford,

Not of any substance. There were several suggestions to extend beyond Ongar, but northwards rather than eastwards - in the direction of Dunmow or further towards Great Yeldham.

Just found this earlier thread that sets this out in more detail:

GER - Epping to Ongar Railway

The following link brings up ambitious plans to extend this GER line beyond Ongar to Dunmow or back to the GER mainline at Chelmsford that never saw the light of day. http://www.urban75.org/london/ongar.html While a map of the former scheme known as the Central Essex Light Railway is shown on...

www.railforums.co.uk

THC

 

[AM9]

The reason people didn’t use it was the inflexibility, not particularly frequent, so long waits at Epping if the cards didn’t deal correctly for whatever reason, and if you didn’t make the last train then that was it.

In earlier years there was a more comprehensive service, but the problem here was there just wasn’t the demand to sustain that level of provision. Once the service got reduced the service then became too awkward to be useful for many people.

There was the country bus route 339 of which in 1962 ran hourly from the centre of Epping with a last bus at 10:45 pm and took about 25 minutes to Ongar centre.

 

[pitdiver]

A bit of trivia. It is said that at Blake Hall you could buy your ticket and a daily newspaper from the station foreman who used to sell both from a table in the booking hall.

 

[MP33]

At the Cricket, there was a member from Ongar. He told me, that stories about possible closures and changes to the service. Were regular articles in the local newspaper, for over 30 years. With the Heritage railway, there were then stories about possible re-opening.

 

[frodshamfella]

I did it a few times, including once buying a rover ticket (for the following weekend) at Blake Hall - doing my bit to stave off closure!

As I recall the issuing station was marked on the ticket - I will have it somewhere

Collectors item !

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 2 Feb 2026 ==

The reason people didn’t use it was the inflexibility, not particularly frequent, so long waits at Epping if the cards didn’t deal correctly for whatever reason, and if you didn’t make the last train then that was it.

In earlier years there was a more comprehensive service, but the problem here was there just wasn’t the demand to sustain that level of provision. Once the service got reduced the service then became too awkward to be useful for many people.

I think that is often the case when services are cut back, people then find them less attractive to use, so its a downward spiral .

 

[contrex]

Do people pronounce the last 'ar' part of 'Ongar' to rhyme with the 'ar' of 'car', or the 'er' of 'banger'? I always supposed the first, but I'm not sure.

 

[Bishopstone]

Do people pronounce the last 'ar' part of 'Ongar' to rhyme with the 'ar' of 'car', or the 'er' of 'banger'?

On-ger