closures of nearby North Weald, Blake Hall and Ongar stations. This growth has continued due to significant development in Epping itself and surrounding villages. Another major contributing factor is that many people living in not too distant towns such as Harlow, Bishop's Stortford, and Chelmsford use the station instead of their own National Rail stations, because it is considerably cheaper to travel to London by London Underground than it is to use National Rail services. Growth is now at such a point where the station's car park is full by 6:30 am on weekdays, and parking around the station (as with other stations on this part of the line, e.g. Theydon Bois and Debden) has become a serious problem for local residents, which in turn has caused many residents and local groups to call for the re-opening of North Weald and Ongar stations to help ease demand on Epping station. Trivia The longest possible journey on the London Underground without changing trains is the Central line route between West Ruislip and Epping (34.1 miles / 54.9 km). In , Epping station had an annual usage of million and was the station on the London Underground. Epping has the largest public London Underground station car park with 519 spaces. It is the only London Underground station located outside the M25 motorway that is not served by the Metropolitan line. References Bibliography External links London's Abandoned Tube Stations – Epping to Ongar branch Epping station in 1952 Epping station in 1953 Central line (London Underground) stations Proposed Chelsea-Hackney Line stations Tube stations in Essex Transport in Epping Forest District Former Great Eastern Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1865 Epping, Essex