The station opened on 15 September 1840 as Tottenham, on the Northern & Eastern Railway (N&ER) line from Stratford in east London to Broxbourne in Hertfordshire. The Northern and Eastern Railway was leased by the Eastern Counties Railway in 1844 who took over operation of the line. The line was initially laid to a gauge of 5 ft (1,524 mm) but already this had been identified as non standard and between 5 September and 7 October 1844 the whole network was re-laid to 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge. Up until 1868 Tottenham Hale was a railhead for cattle traffic from East Anglia. Trains were unloaded there and the cattle driven four miles down what is now the A10 road towards London. In 1868 the link (since removed) to the Tottenham and Hampstead Junction Railway was opened and this traffic transferred to Tufnell Park which was closer to the site of the cattle market off Caledonian Road.
Tottenham Hale takes its name from the old English word Hale (to hoist or pull), as goods (particularly timber) were unloaded from the River Lea for onward transport by road at this point. The station was renamed Tottenham Hale on 1 September 1968 when it became an interchange station with London Underground on the opening of the first stage of the Victoria line. Four of London's last remaining Trolleybus poles still stand on Ferry Lane as it crosses over the railway tracks by the station. The redevelopment of Tottenham Hale bus station was completed in December 2014. The railway and Underground station is currently awaiting redevelopment. The station has escalators, lifts, help points, a car park, payphones and wi-fi.
Connections: London Overground. London Buses routes 41, 192, 230, 123 serve the station.
