Southend Central railway station is on the

London, Tilbury and Southend line The London, Tilbury and Southend line, also known as Essex Thameside, is a commuter railway line on the Rail transport in Great Britain, British railway system. It connects Fenchurch Street railway station, Fenchurch Street station, in central ...

and is one of two primary stations serving the city of

Southend-on-Sea Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in south-eastern Essex, England. It lies on the nor ...

, Essex. The city's other main station is called which is the terminus of a branch line off the

Great Eastern Main Line The Great Eastern Main Line (GEML, sometimes referred to as the East Anglia Main Line) is a major railway line on the British railway system which connects Liverpool Street station in central London with destinations in east London and t ...

. Southend Central is down the line from London Fenchurch Street via and it is situated between and stations. Its three-letter station code is SOC. It was opened in 1856 by the

London, Tilbury and Southend Railway The London, Tilbury and Southend Railway (LT&SR), was a British railway company, whose network connected Fenchurch Street railway station, Fenchurch Street station, in central London, with destinations in east London and Essex, including , , , T ...

and was the eastern terminus of the line until 1888, after which the line was later extended to . The station and all trains serving it are currently operated by

c2c Trenitalia c2c, trading as c2c, is a British train operating company that operates commuter services from its London terminus at to parts of East London and south Essex along the London, Tilbury and Southend line, as part of the Essex Thame ...

Description

Southend Central has four platforms: *Platform 1 is a

bay platform In the United Kingdom and in Australia, a bay platform is a dead-end railway platform at a railway station that has through lines. It is normal for bay platforms to be shorter than their associated through platforms. They must have a buffer stop ...

; trains may terminate at this formerly disused platform if platform 4 is not available for use or when engineering works are taking place between Southend Central and Shoeburyness; it has an operational length for 12-coach trains. *Platform 2 is typically for eastbound services to ; it has an operational length for 12-coach trains. *Platform 3 is typically for westbound services to London Fenchurch Street via ; it has an operational length for 14-coach trains. *Platform 4 is a bay platform typically for westbound services to London Fenchurch Street via either or ; it has an operational length for 12-coach trains. In 1922 there were two other bay platforms and carriage sidings to the south of platform 4 and a goods shed and goods sidings to the north of platform 1. The bay platforms (5 and 6) were extant in 1981 although the track had been lifted. The area was subsequently redeveloped as a car park. Facilities at the station include a partially sheltered bicycle storage rack and a car park. The ticket office has two serving positions, one of which is fully accessible, and uses the

Tribute A tribute (; from Latin ''tributum'', "contribution") is wealth, often in kind, that a party gives to another as a sign of submission, allegiance or respect. Various ancient states exacted tribute from the rulers of lands which the state con ...

ticket issuing system. Following the successful refurbishment of Benfleet railway station,

implemented a similar project at Southend Central. The work cost £460,000 and was jointly funded by c2c and Southend Borough Council. It involved the complete refurbishment of the ticket office and toilets and the construction of a new forecourt on the north side of the station (leading to platform 2) opposite the

University of Essex The University of Essex is a public university, public research university in Essex, England. Established by royal charter in 1965, it is one of the original plate glass university, plate glass universities. The university comprises three camp ...

Southend campus, with new steps and handrails on both sides of the canopy, and a new glass roof and lighting over the bicycle parking area. It was completed in 2007 after around four weeks of work. When the

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or as the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent home counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The Undergro ...

District line The District line is a London Underground line running from in the east and Edgware Road tube station (Circle, District and Hammersmith & City lines), Edgware Road in the west to in west London, where it splits into multiple branches. One br ...

operated a seasonal non-stop excursion train service between 1910 and 1939 through to the Southend area, Southend Central was the second station to be called at after departing . There was formerly a through siding, provided with overhead line electrification, to the north of the down (Shoeburyness-bound) line between Southend Central and Southend East. This was still in use in 1969.

Services

As of the June 2024 timetable the typical Monday to Friday off-peak service is: * 4 tph (trains per hour) westbound to London Fenchurch Street via

Basildon Basildon ( ) is a town in Borough of Basildon, the borough of the same name, in the county of Essex, England. It had a recorded population of 115,955 at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census. In 1931, the town had a population of 1,159. ...

(2 tph all stations and 2 tph semi-fast) * 2 tph westbound to London Fenchurch Street via Tilbury Town and Ockendon * 4 tph eastbound to .

References

External links

{{coord, 51, 32, 14, N, 0, 42, 42, E, display=title, type:railwaystation_region:GB Railway stations in Southend-on-Sea Former London, Tilbury and Southend Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1856 Railway stations served by c2c DfT Category C1 stations