Dovercourt railway station

Dovercourt railway station is on the Mayflower Line, a branch of the Great Eastern Main Line, in the East of England, serving the seaside town of Dovercourt, Essex. It is 70 miles 19 chains (113.04 km) from London Liverpool Street and is situated between Harwich International to the west and Harwich Town to the east. Its three-letter station code is DVC.

Dovercourt
General information
Location	Dovercourt, Tendring England
Coordinates	51.939°N 1.281°E / 51.939; 1.281
Grid reference	TM255317
Managed by	Abellio Greater Anglia
Platforms	1
Other information
Station code	DVC
Classification	DfT category E
History
Original company	Eastern Union Railway
Pre-grouping	Great Eastern Railway
Post-grouping	London and North Eastern Railway
Key dates
15 August 1854 (1854-08-15)	Opened as Dovercourt
1 May 1913	Renamed Dovercourt Bay
14 December 1972	Renamed Dovercourt
Passengers
2018/19	0.178 million
2019/20	0.164 million
2020/21	46,460
2021/22	0.118 million
2022/23	0.130 million
Notes Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

The station is currently operated by Abellio Greater Anglia, which also runs all trains serving the station.

History

The station was opened by the Eastern Union Railway on 15 August 1854 and was originally named Dovercourt. Its name was changed to Dovercourt Bay on 1 May 1913, but reverted to Dovercourt on 14 December 1972.^[1][2]

Today passenger operations are confined to a bi-directional single electrified track, using what was the "up" track in the days when services through the station were operated on both tracks by steam and diesel locomotives. The unnumbered platform has an operational length for eight-coach trains.^[3] The remains of what was the "down" platform survive. The down platform also had a rather sizeable canopy, which was of little benefit given that most use of the platform was by passengers arriving. The bridge which linked the two platforms has since been removed. The only station beyond Dovercourt on the down side is Harwich Town, which is a relatively short walking distance. The station also had a signal box which was positioned at the west (London) end of the down platform;^[2] it controlled the occasional goods movements to short sidings at both ends of the up platform, which were used for coal and other goods deliveries to the town.

Services

As of December 2015^[update] the typical weekday off-peak service on the line is one train per hour in each direction, although some additional services run at peak times. Trains operate between Harwich Town and Manningtree calling at all stations, although some are extended to or from Colchester and/or London Liverpool Street.^[4]

References

1. Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. p. 81. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508.
2. Mitchell, Vic (June 2011). Branch Lines to Harwich and Hadleigh. Midhurst: Middleton Press. plates 78–84. ISBN 978-1-908174-02-4.
3. Brailsford, Martyn (2016). Railway Track Diagrams Volume 2 Eastern. Frome: Trackmaps. p. 9. ISBN 978-0-9549866-8-1.
4. Table 11 National Rail timetable, May 2016

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Harwich International		Greater Anglia Mayflower Line		Harwich Town