Crowds celebrated as Lea Bridge Station reopened this morning, welcoming passengers for the first time in 31 years.

Scores descended on the station today (Monday, May 16), to welcome Waltham Forest council leader, Chris Robbins, and rail minister, Claire Perry, on the first train from Tottenham Hale.

Lea Bridge, which at the time of its closure in 1985 was being used by just a handful of passengers each day, is now expected to serve over 350,000 passengers a year by 2031.

On the evening the station closed, musicians Aunt Fortscue’s Blues Rockers, made up of Graham Larkbey, Simon Brown, Dave Illingworth and John Simms, had performed music for crowds.

More than three decades on, three of the band's four members members played for those who came to Leyton to see the station’s revival.

Mr Larkbey said: “It is brilliant- the campaign to reopen the station has been going on for years.

“On the day it closed, the station probably saw more people on the platform than had been there for about five years previously.

“There was a mood of sadness, anger and frustration that the service had been killed off by neglect, back then the station was just full of weeds and derelict.

“We always said that if the station reopened we would reform the band- having played on the closing day, we said we must perform on the reopening day.”

The new station will provide direct links to Statford and Tottenham Hale, with journey times to each of around five minutes.

The project was realised after almost £12 million in funding was secured from Waltham Forest council and the Department for Transport’s New Stations Fund.

Brendan Reilly, who was just 17 when the station closed, said: “The evening the station closed was pretty wet and windy, but it was a nice occasion.

“The band were in full swing, singing: ‘this the last train to Stratford, there will never be another one’.

“At the time I thought there would never be another one, but now we are all here today- it is great for the community and great for rail users.”

The station will be operated by Abellio Greater Anglia, providing half-hourly services in both directions along the line.

The new services form part of a wider redevelopment of the surrounding area, which include plans for 300 new homes, sports facilities and shops.

Waltham Forest council leader, Chris Robbins, said: “We are very excited to be reopening Lea Bridge Station after 31 years.

“Not just for people already living in the Leyton area, but for the businesses nearby and investors who are interested in this part of our borough.

“There is huge scope for growth in Leyton and Lea Bridge and we are already working on a masterplan to look at how we can unlock its potential.”