Hainault is a London Underground station on the Central line in Hainault in the London Borough of Redbridge. Since 2 January 2007 the station is in Travelcard Zone 4. This station is home to one of the three Central Line depots.
The station was opened on 1 May 1903 as part of the Great Eastern Railway's (GER) Woodford to Ilford "loop" or branch line (the Fairlop Loop). This line designed to stimulate suburban growth was closed due to a lack of custom on 1 October 1908 and did not reopen until 2 March 1930. In the interim the 1921 Railways Act, had caused the GER to be merged with other railway companies in 1923 and the new operator was the London & North Eastern Railway (LNER). As part of the 1935 - 1940 "New Works Programme" of the London Passenger Transport Board the majority of the loop was to be transferred to form the eastern extensions of the Central line. Although work commenced in 1938 it was suspended upon the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 and work only recommenced in 1946.
Steam train services serving Hainault were suspended on 29 November 1947 and electrified Central Line passenger services, to Central London via Gants Hill, finally commenced on 31 May 1948. The line from Newbury Park to Hainault had been electrified for empty train movements to the new depot at Hainault from 14 December 1947. The services to Woodford via Grange Hill, were reintroduced on 21 November 1948.
Alterations at Hainault included a new island platform on the west side of the station to allow the bulk of services via Gants Hill to be terminated here as well as allowing access to Hainault Depot. This, situated to the north of the station is the major train depot on the eastern end of the line. The building was completed in 1939 but was used by the US Army Transportation Corps until 1945. The depot was in use for Central Line stock from 14 December 1947.
For many years, the lightly used Woodford-Hainault section was largely operated as a separate shuttle. The section was adapted in the mid 1960s for experimental Automatic Train Operation (ATO) using modified 1960 Stock units. ATO was subsequently adopted on the Victoria line. The Woodford-Hainault service is no longer operated separately and the 1960 Stock (along with the rest of the Central Line's 1962 Stock) has been superseded by trains of 1992 Stock.
An ongoing refurbishment programme has seen the ticket office completed, with work now continuing on a supervisors office and the mobility impaired lifts street to platforms being the next stage on the project. Hainault now has a lift which has a descent of 0.67 metres. It is the shallowest lift on the London Underground network.
The new Station Supervisors Office in the Ticket Hall was completed in June 2009.
London Buses Routes 150, 247 and N8 serve the station.