Gidea Park Station

Gidea Park Station serves and area to the east of Romford in Essex. The station is on the Liverpool Street line with trains running between there and Southend.
This is a very small station although one which is very very heavily used by daily commuters.
There are actually four platforms at the station although only two are in use, one for travel into London, the other for travel towards the coast. The platforms are accessed via a long staircase making the station very awkward for those with mobility problems, buggies or heavy luggage.
Platform facilities are limited. There is a waiting room (which is appalling) and a couple of benches on either platform. Most of the length of the platform is exposed to the elements making this a particularly unpleasant station to wait at during the rush hour.
The ticket office is often under-​staffed and as a result there will be long queues, particularly on a Monday morning. Self-​service ticket machines are available and the station now benefits from ticket gates (fare evasion used to be a real issue here).
There is a very small newsagents at the station and a cab office next door.
There is very limited parking at the station which almsot equates to no parking. There’s a tiny carpark behind the station which is for car park season ticket holders only. There can be no more than about 30 spaces and there is a very long waiting list for a space. Street parking is all controlled and so not possible for the commuter. You’ll therefore need to leave the car at home and get public transport (busses stop outside) or a lift.
For the off-​peak traveller parking is available in the surrounding roads but you may have a reasonable walk to get to the station.