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.
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| 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.
 |
| Station building |
 |
| View down the platforms, canopy coverage varies |
 |
| View of the canopy and basic platform facilities |
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| c2c 357 325 arrives at Southend Central |
 |
| Another platform view |
[1] Dr Edwin Course, Barking to Southend (Middleton Press, 2002) Map. XX
[2] Ibid. Fig. 91
