Southminster railway station

Southminster railway station is the eastern terminus of the Crouch Valley Line in Essex, England; it serves the town of Southminster and other settlements on the Dengie Peninsula. It is 45 miles 42 chains (73.27 km) down the line from London Liverpool Street. The station is managed by Greater Anglia, which operates all services. The Engineer's Line Reference for the line is WIS and the station's three-letter station code is SMN. The platform has an operational length for 8 carriages. The preceding station to the west is Burnham-on-Crouch.

Southminster
National Rail
The terminus in 2011
General information
LocationSouthminster, Maldon
England
Coordinates51°39′36″N 0°50′02″E / 51.66006°N 0.83386°E / 51.66006; 0.83386
Grid referenceTQ961995
Managed byGreater Anglia
Platforms1
Other information
Station codeSMN
ClassificationDfT category F1
History
Opened1 July 1889
Passengers
2019/20Steady 0.129 million
2020/21Decrease 18,520
2021/22Increase 71,102
2022/23Increase 78,294
2023/24Increase 85,992
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

History

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The line and station were opened on 1 June 1889 for goods and on 1 October 1889 for passengers by the Great Eastern Railway in 1889. The station had a single platform and station buildings.[1] There were extensive sidings, including a line to gravel pits which operated until 3 November 1979. The sidings included a goods shed, cattle pens and a locomotive turntable.[1]

The station was host to a LNER camping coach from 1935 to 1939 and possibly one for part of 1934.[2] The goods yard closed on 4 October 1965; there was a 36-lever signal box, which closed on 19 January 1986.[1] The line and station were passed to the London and North Eastern Railway following the Grouping of 1923. It then passed to the Eastern Region of British Railways upon nationalisation in 1948.

The Wickford to Southminster line was electrified using 25kV overhead line electrification on 12 May 1986.

When sectorisation was introduced, Southminster was managed by Network SouthEast until the privatisation of British Rail.

Service

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The typical off-peak service is of one train every 40 minutes to Wickford, with additional services at peak times. Some peak services continue to or from Shenfield and/or London Liverpool Street, via the Great Eastern Main Line. On Sundays, the service reduces to hourly.[3]

Preceding station   National Rail Following station
Greater AngliaTerminus

References

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  1. ^ a b c Mitchell, Vic (2010). Branch Lines to Southend and Southminster. Midhurst Sussex: Middleton Press. ISBN 978-1-906008-76-5.
  2. ^ McRae, Andrew (1997). British Railway Camping Coach Holidays: The 1930s & British Railways (London Midland Region). Vol. Scenes from the Past: 30 (Part One). Foxline. p. 10. ISBN 1-870119-48-7.
  3. ^ "Timetables". Greater Anglia. 2 June 2024. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
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