The station was opened by the Northern and Eastern Railway as a temporary terminus on 16 May 1842, and became a through station on 30 July 1845 when the line was extended through to Norwich. In 1843 the train from London to Bishop's Stortford was timetabled to run at, exclusive of stops - the fastest booked run on any English railway at the time. The station site included a large goods yard occupying the land now used for car parking as well as sidings running as far west as the riverside wharves of the Stort Navigation. To the east, a small turntable and engine sheds lay on land recently used as a garage and earmarked for supermarket use. During the station's heyday, the station had two signal boxes, "South", located opposite the current building and behind platform 3, and "North", controlling access to the Bishop's Stortford–Braintree branch line. For most of the station's life, four lines passed through it ; up and down main lines to the west of the now much extended island platform, and a branch line and passing loop to the east of the island platform, the northern end of which was located where the footbridge is today. Bishop's Stortford was also a junction station for the cross-country route to and, which opened to passengers on 22 February 1869 and closed on 3 March 1952. The line continued in use for freight trains and occasional excursions, closing in stages with the final section to Easton Lodge closing on 17 February 1972. The station was the scene of a fatal crash on the last full day of the General Strike of 1926 when a southbound goods train manned by a volunteer crew crashed into the rear of an earlier train sitting in platform two. The platform canopy was demolished and a waiting passenger killed.
Services
The typical off-peak service is:
4 trains per hour to London Liverpool Street, of which:
*1 call at Sawbridgeworth, Harlow Town, Broxbourne, Cheshunt and Tottenham Hale
*1 call at Sawbridgeworth, Harlow Mill, Harlow Town, Roydon, Broxbourne, Cheshunt, Tottenham Hale and Hackney Downs
2 tph to Stansted Airport, both running non-stop
2 tph to Cambridge, of which:
*1 calls at Audley End and Whittlesford Parkway
*1 calls at Stansted Mountfitchet, Elsenham, Newport, Audley End, Great Chesterford, Whittlesford Parkway and Shelford
Other services
On Mondays to Fridays a small number of trains during the peak hours are extended beyond Cambridge to terminate at Ely and King's Lynn. At other times it is necessary to change at Cambridge for onward travel using services provided by CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway or Great Northern, Great Northern services also serve King's Lynn.
The station today
The station has three platforms. Platform 1 is for services towards Stansted Airport and Cambridge. Platform 2 is used for services to London Liverpool Street and Stratford. Platform 3 is used for some trains that terminate at Bishops Stortford. It is also used by a few services to/from Cambridge via Stansted Airport which only start/terminate here. In the days before 1985 when Bishop's Stortford was the northern limit of electrification it was used for slow trains to London Liverpool Street and to Cambridge; therefore platform 2 was used for fast trains. The station has two entrances. One from Station Road where there is ticket hall, waiting room and real time information. The other entrance is for direct access to Platforms 2 and 3. Ticket barriers have been installed at the station to prevent fare evasion. In 2014 the station underwent extensive modernization resulting in the construction of a new ticket office, barrier line, retail outlets and a new platform canopy.
