Southend Victoria railway station

Southend Victoria railway station is the eastern terminus of the Shenfield to Southend Line in the East of England, a branch off the Great Eastern Main Line, and is one of the primary stations serving the resort town of Southend-on-Sea, Essex (the other is Southend Central on the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway line). It is 41 miles 42 chains (66.83 km) down the line from London Liverpool Street; the preceding station on the line is Prittlewell. The Engineer's Line Reference for the line is SSV; the station's three-letter station code is SOV. The station has four platforms each with an operational length for 12-coach trains.

Southend Victoria
LocationSouthend-on-Sea, Southend-on-Sea
England
Grid referenceTQ881860
Managed byGreater Anglia
Platforms4
Other information
Station codeSOV
ClassificationDfT category C1
History
Original companyGreat Eastern Railway
Pre-groupingGreat Eastern Railway
Post-groupingLondon and North Eastern Railway
Key dates
1 October 1889Opened as Southend-on-Sea[1]
1933Renamed Southend-on-Sea for Westcliff and Thorpe Bay
1 May 1949Renamed Southend-on-Sea Victoria
20 February 1969Renamed Southend Victoria
Passengers
2014/15 1.359[2] million
2015/16 1.440 million
2016/17 1.878 million
2017/18 2.099 million
2018/19 2.130 million
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

History

The line from Wickford to Southend including this station was opened on 1 October 1889.[3] There was a goods yard to the east of the station; it closed on 5 June 1967.[3] The station area still has extensive carriage sidings: Down Carriage Sidings (North) 10 roads (known as The Klondyke sidings);[4] Down Carriage Sidings (South) 3 roads plus a disused Royal Mail Terminal; Up Carriage Sidings (North) 3 roads (known as The Shute);[4] Up Carriage Sidings (South) 2 roads.[5]

Electrification of the Shenfield to Southend Victoria line using 1.5 kV DC overhead line electrification (OLE) was completed on 31 December 1956. This was changed to 6.25 kV AC in November 1960 and to 25 kV AC on 25 January 1979.[3]

The station was named Southend for Westcliffe & Thorpe Bay from 1933 to 1949; from 1 May 1949 it was renamed Southend-on-Sea Victoria; and from 20 February 1969 it was finally changed to Southend Victoria.[3]

Services

It is currently managed by Greater Anglia, which also operates all trains serving it. The typical Monday to Saturday off-peak service is of three trains per hour to Liverpool Street (the services join the Great Eastern Main Line for London at the western terminus of Shenfield). On Sundays there are typically two trains per hour to Liverpool Street.

The town's other main station is Southend Central which provides services westbound to London Fenchurch Street and eastbound to Shoeburyness, operated by c2c.[5]

References
  1. Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. p. 215. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508.
  2. Large change due to methodological changes
  3. Mitchell, Vic (2010). Branch Lines to Southend and Southminster. Midhurst Sussex: Middleton Press. ISBN 978-1-906008-76-5.
  4. Route training manual Liverpool Street to Ipswich and branches, British Rail Eastern Region (1968). Published by the Great Eastern Railway Society (1992) ISBN 1 85622 239 X
  5. Martyn Brailsford (ed) (2016). Railway Track Diagrams Vol 2 Eastern. Frome: TrackMaps. p. 10. ISBN 978-0-9549866-8-1.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)

Preceding station National Rail Following station
Prittlewell   Greater Anglia
Shenfield to Southend Line		   Terminus


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