It is 2 miles 35 chains (3.9 km) down-line from London Liverpool Street and is situated between Cambridge Heath and Hackney Downs.

Electrification of the line was instituted in 1960, and London Fields station was reduced to weekday peak period-only service for much of the 1980s and 1990s.

It had its services suspended altogether for five years after a fire in 1981 that seriously damaged the main station buildings, putting its future in serious doubt.

[2] Repairs were eventually carried out and the station reopened in 1986,[3] though still on a limited basis (like the neighbouring Cambridge Heath).

London Fields and all services that call were previously operated by Abellio Greater Anglia.