Southend Airport railway station is on the

Shenfield to Southend Line Shenfield is a commuter suburb of Brentwood, in the borough of Brentwood, Essex, England. In 2020, the suburb was estimated to have a population of 5,396. History The old village (now town), by the church and Green Dragon pub, lies along the ...

in the

East of England The East of England is one of the nine official regions of England. This region was created in 1994 and was adopted for statistics purposes from 1999. It includes the ceremonial counties of Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire ...

, serving London Southend Airport, the village of Sutton and northern parts of Southend-on-Sea. It is down the line from

London Liverpool Street Liverpool Street station, also known as London Liverpool Street, is a central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in the north-eastern corner of the City of London, in the ward of Bishopsgate Without. It is the t ...

and is situated between and . Train services provide an airport rail link between Southend Airport and

Central London Central London is the innermost part of London, in England, spanning several boroughs. Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local government. Its characteris ...

. The station is managed by London Southend Airport but the trains serving it are operated by

Greater Anglia Greater Anglia (legal name Transport UK East Anglia Limited) is a British train operating company owned as a joint venture by Transport UK Group and Mitsui & Co. It operates the East Anglia franchise, providing the commuter and inter-city ser ...

. The Engineer's Line Reference for the line is SSV; the station's three-letter station code is SIA. The platforms have an operational length for 12-coach trains.

History

When Southend Airport officially opened as a municipal airport in 1935, the mayor of Southend suggested that it would be a good idea to open a railway station to serve the airport. For the first 75 years of the airport's operation, the nearest railway station was . After

Southend Borough Council Southend-on-Sea City Council is the local authority of the Southend-on-Sea district in Essex, England. It is a unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. It is a member of the East of England ...

sold the airport to Regional Airports Ltd, a scheme was proposed in 1997 to build a station, and planning permission was obtained from

Rochford District Council Rochford is a town in Essex, England, north of Southend-on-Sea, from London and from Chelmsford, the county town. At the 2011 census, the Civil parishes in England, civil parish, which includes the town and London Southend Airport, had a popu ...

. It was not until 2008 that the Stobart group began to advance the project, and construction began in late 2009. The station was originally planned to open in 2009, but the opening date was postponed several times. In June 2011, National Express trains began stopping at the station, but passengers were not permitted to get off. The station was designed by

Atkins Atkins may refer to: Places in the United States * Atkins, Arkansas, a city * Atkins, Iowa, a city * Atkins, Louisiana, an unincorporated community * Atkins, Nebraska, an unincorporated community * Atkins, Virginia, a census-designated place * ...

and constructed by Birse Rail; it was opened by the Transport Minister Theresa Villiers in 2011. A new terminal building adjoining the station opened in 2012.

Services

The typical Monday-Saturday off-peak service is: * 2 trains per hour (tph) to

, calling at all stations to then and Liverpool Street. * 1 tph to London Liverpool Street, calling at all stations to Shenfield then , Stratford and Liverpool Street. * 3 tph to , calling at and Southend Victoria. When the Crossrail project is completed, interchange will be possible at Shenfield, Stratford and Liverpool Street between Southend Airport rail services and the new Elizabeth Line, providing onward links to central London and

Heathrow Airport Heathrow Airport (), called ''London Airport'' until 1966 and now known as London Heathrow , is a major international airport in London, England. It is the largest of the six international airports in the London airport system (the others be ...

. Glyn Jones, chief executive of Stobart Aviation, proposed in 2018 that Crossrail should be extended to Southend Airport to alleviate capacity problems at Heathrow. London airport links map

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Southend Airport Railway Station Transport in Rochford District Railway stations in Essex Railway stations opened by Network Rail Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 2011 Greater Anglia franchise railway stations Airport railway stations in the United Kingdom