Enfield had been missed by the Northern and Eastern Railway line which had opened between Stratford and Broxbourne on 15 September 1840 and had to make do with Ponders End station some two miles away.

[Note 1] Work on the 3 mile 7 chain single line branch commenced in 1848 under the direction of contractor Thomas Earle.

The ECR at that point ran between London Shoreditch (Bishopsgate) and Bishops Stortford although plans were afoot to extend northwards to Cambridge.

This offered a quicker journey time into London Liverpool Street and this effectively became the Enfield Town branch.

This started on 12 July 1920 and offered 12 trains to Seven Sisters where three then served the Palace Gates branch and the other nine continued to Enfield Town.

Work patterns were changing however with new industries being established along the Lea Valley a few miles to the east saw a reduction in the numbers using the branch.

In 1939 Edmonton Low Level station closed to passengers although the line remained open for goods and occasional diversions.

During 1959 Lower Edmonton (low level) railway station was temporarily re-opened and the line used for services which had been diverted due to electrification works.

The Palace Gates line was closed to passengers on 7 January 1963 although goods services continued to run until 5 October 1964.

At the end of the year the line through Lower Edmonton (low level) railway station was closed with track being lifted in 1965.

On privatisation in 1994 operation of the station was initially allocated to a business unit which succeeded the old British Railways structure before being taken over by West Anglia Great Northern (WAGN) in January 1997. mi+ch Privatisation saw the railway split into two parts with Railtrack being responsible for the maintenance of the infrastructure and a series of different companies operating the services.

It also operated the suburban services out of Kings Cross and Moorgate stations and its rolling stock was maintained at Hornsey and Ilford depots.

In his book London's Local Railways, Alan Jackson records On 1 October 1909 services via the Southbury loop were withdrawn, but were reinstated for munitions workers between 1 March 1915 and 1 July 1919.

Lower Edmonton: – the station on the single section of the old branch had one service in the morning peak at 7:18 a.m. which was direct to Liverpool Street.

The evening peak return working was a normal service train routed via Stratford which departed Liverpool street at 5:17 p.m.

One early morning service between Liverpool Street and Enfield Town is routed via Stratford, the Gospel Oak to Barking line and Seven Sisters.

[16] There were private sidings north of Seven Sisters serving a lager brewery and ice factory in 1882 being used later by Tottenham Council.

In May 1964 Bush Hill Park closed followed by Manor Road Sidings, Stoke Newington and Edmonton in December.

White Hart Lane closed to general traffic in January 1968 but remained open for solid fuel until 2 July 1977.

134 Class' 0-4-4T were built in 1872-1873 specifically at the time Liverpool street opened and more suburban services were being operated by the GER.

Designed by Alfred John Hill they were employed on suburban passenger services throughout the North East London area between 1915 and 1962.

Worsdell for both freight and passenger duties they were introduced in July 1883 and they were so successful that new batches were built (largely unchanged) to 1913 the final total being 289.

From opening until the mid-1920s coaching stock was four wheeled and even as late as 1900 the majority of GER suburban trains were composed of four-wheeler carriages.

This set, which also included such modern features as slam lock doors and gas tail lamps became the model for future suburban carriage design.

In the early 1900s some four-wheeler carriages were cut in half longitudinally and a section inserted to make them wider in order to increase the capacity.

The shed was demolished but due to the financial crisis the GER was facing at the time it was not until 1869 that the replacement structure was built.

His reminiscences can be found in the book Buckjumpers, Gobblers and Clauds : A Lifetime on Great Eastern and LNER Footplates (Bradford Burton 1981 ISBN 0851533965)