Southend Victoria railway station

Southend Victoria railway station is the eastern terminus of the Shenfield to Southend Line, a branch off the Great Eastern Main Line, in the East of England. It is one of two primary stations that serve the resort city of Southend-on-Sea, Essex; the other is Southend Central on the London, Tilbury and Southend line. It is located 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 10-car Class 720 electric multiple units.

Southend Victoria
Station entrance, as seen in June 2024
General information
Location	Southend-on-Sea, City of Southend-on-Sea England
Grid reference	TQ881860
Managed by	Greater Anglia
Platforms	4
Other information
Station code	SOV
Classification	DfT category C1
History
Original company	Great Eastern Railway
Pre-grouping	Great Eastern Railway
Post-grouping	London and North Eastern Railway
Key dates
1 October 1889	Opened as Southend-on-Sea[1]
1933	Renamed Southend-on-Sea for Westcliff and Thorpe Bay
1 May 1949	Renamed Southend-on-Sea Victoria
20 February 1969	Renamed Southend Victoria
Passengers
2018/19	2.130 million
2019/20	1.719 million
2020/21	0.560 million
Interchange	1,587
2021/22	1.101 million
Interchange	2,285
2022/23	1.262 million
Interchange	2,049
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.^[2] There was a goods yard to the east of the station, which closed on 5 June 1967.^[2] The station area still has extensive carriage sidings: Down Carriage Sidings (North) 10 roads (known as the Klondyke sidings);^[3] Down Carriage Sidings (South) three roads plus a disused Royal Mail Terminal; Up Carriage Sidings (North) three roads (known as The Shute);^[3] Up Carriage Sidings (South) two roads.^[4]

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.^[2]

The station was named Southend for Westcliffe & Thorpe Bay from 1933 to 1949; it was renamed Southend-on-Sea Victoria on 1 May 1949 and was finally changed to Southend Victoria on 20 February 1969.^[2]

Service

Station platforms 1 and 2, June 2024

The station is 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. On Sundays, there are typically two trains per hour to Liverpool Street.^[5] Services join the Great Eastern Main Line for London at the line's western terminus at Shenfield.

The city's other main station is Southend Central, which provides services westbound to London Fenchurch Street and eastbound to Shoeburyness, operated by c2c.^[6]

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

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. Mitchell, Vic (2010). Branch Lines to Southend and Southminster. Midhurst Sussex: Middleton Press. ISBN 978-1-906008-76-5.
3. 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
4. Padgett, David (November 2016) [1988]. Brailsford, Martyn (ed.). Railway Track Diagrams Vol 2 Eastern (4th ed.). Frome: TrackMaps. map 10A. ISBN 978-0-9549866-8-1.
5. "Timetables". Greater Anglia. 2 June 2024. Retrieved 28 August 2024.
6. "Timetable". c2c. 2 June 2024. Retrieved 28 August 2024.

External links

• Train times and station information for Southend Victoria railway station from National Rail

51°32′30″N 0°42′40″E