A NEW half-hourly suburban service has started running between Stratford and Meridian Water in north east London, which was opened in June as part of a £6 billion development of the area being led by Enfield Council. Eventually, 10,000 homes are to be built in the station's catchment area, although the start of work has been delayed so in the event the station has opened first.

It has replaced the old station at Angel Road, which was less than 600m away but had only a skeleton train service because there was very little demand in this open area of the Lea Valley.

The new service which has started running today connects Meridian Water with Northumberland Park and Tottenham Hale as well as Stratford, and these three stations offer a wealth of interchange opportunities between them.

Apart from Meridian Water itself, Network Rail has also invested £170 million in 5.5km of additional running lines and new platforms at Tottenham Hale and Northumberland Park as well as upgrading bridges, signals and overhead power lines.

Martin Moran is Greater Anglia’s commercial and customer service director. He said: 'Thanks to the completion of the new section of track, people in the Lea Valley can now enjoy a more frequent service, including at weekends, as the third track provides the additional capacity that enables us to operate two additional trains per hour throughout the day between Meridian Water and Stratford.

'We are committed to improving rail travel for all customers working in partnership with local authorities, the London Economic Action Partnership and Network Rail and other key stakeholders.'