Calling at... British railway stations: Southend Central (SOC)

Southend Central is located on the London, Tilbury and Southend Line in Essex between Westcliff and Southend East. It is one of two stations in the centre of the town (the other being Southend Victoria) though they are unconnected.

c2c 357 013 on a service that has terminated at Southend Central

Information
Type:	National Rail (London, Tilbury and Southend Line)
Station code:	SOC
Opened:	1856
Platforms:	4

The station was opened as Southend in 1856 by the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway. Southend was the Eastern terminus before the line was extended to Shoeburyness. The station was renamed Southend-on-Sea on 1876 and Southend-on-Sea Central in 1949. The station name was shortened to the current one in 1969.

The original station buildings were replaced by the current build in 1889 due to competition from the Great Eastern Railway who reached the town and opened Southend Victoria that year [1]. From 1910 to 1939 the London Underground District Line also operated a seasonal service to Southend.

The station was busiest with holiday traffic in the first half of the twentieth century and had six platforms. Two of these have been closed along with the goods yard, the line was electrified in the late 1960s [2]. Nowadays the station is managed by c2c and is served by at least six trains an hour from London Fenchurch Street, two of which terminate at Southend Central with the others going onwards to Shoeburyness.