The original station operated from 1840 to 1985 and was accessed via the north side of Lea Bridge Road as it crosses the tracks.

Prior to this, a horse bus operating between Walthamstow and Lea Bridge had met all trains arriving at the station.

By then, the only trains serving Lea Bridge were those operating between Tottenham Hale and North Woolwich via Stratford (low level platforms), and the withdrawal of that service led to the closure of the station on 8 July 1985.

[13] The simple open-sided shelter, located on the road bridge over the tracks, and which had replaced the original station buildings, was also demolished in 1985.

The new buildings were to be situated on the up side (towards Stratford)[17] rather than on the road bridge over the line, and the platforms were to be linked by a footbridge.

Estimates by Transport for London (TfL) show 352,000 entries and exits annually by 2031 with a service of two trains per hour.

[18] The construction date slipped, but work started in July 2015; the station reopened on the evening of Sunday 15 May 2016[6] with the full service beginning on Monday, 16 May 2016.