Clacton-on-Sea railway station

Clacton-on-Sea railway station is one of the two eastern termini of the Sunshine Coast Line, a branch of the Great Eastern Main Line, in the East of England, serving the town of Clacton-on-Sea, Essex. It is 69 miles 56 chains (112.17 km) down the line from London Liverpool Street.[1] Its three-letter station code is CLT. The preceding station on the line is Thorpe-le-Soken.

Clacton-on-Sea
Location
PlaceClacton-on-Sea
Local authorityTendring
Coordinates51.7936°N 1.1541°E / 51.7936; 1.1541
Grid referenceTM176153
Operations
Station codeCLT
Managed byGreater Anglia
Number of platforms4
DfT categoryC1
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections
from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2014/15 0.794 million
2015/16 0.804 million
2016/17 0.824 million
2017/18 0.791 million
2018/19 0.799 million
History
Key datesOpened July 1882 (July 1882)
National Rail – UK railway stations
  • Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Clacton-on-Sea from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.

The station was opened in 1882 with the name Clacton.[2] It is currently managed by Greater Anglia, which also operates all trains serving the station.

The branch diverges from the Great Eastern Main Line at Colchester whence trains run to either Colchester Town, Walton-on-the-Naze or Clacton-on-Sea. Clacton is on a spur from Thorpe-le-Soken which was built by the Clacton-on-Sea Railway and originally operated by the Great Eastern Railway. It opened some 15 years after the branch to Walton was opened.[3]

On 1 January 1923 the station passed to the London and North Eastern Railway following the 1921 Railways Act. After World War II and following nationalisation, it fell under the auspices of British Railways (Eastern Region).

Services were steam-operated until the line was electrified, with Clacton first seeing electric trains on 16 March 1959. Initially, the line was only electrified as far as Colchester, as part of British Railways' experiments with 25 kV AC electrification, rather than the previously preferred 1500 V DC system. Through electrified services to Liverpool Street were introduced on 7 January 1963.[4]

Clacton station has a sizeable concourse sheltered by a glazed roof. Platforms 1 and 3 have an operational length for ten-coach trains and platforms 2 and 4 have an operational length for twelve-coach trains.[5] There is a traction depot just outside the station, with some stabling sidings alongside the station itself.

Its name was changed to Clacton-on-Sea in May 2007.[6]

Services

Class 321 trains terminating at Clacton-on-Sea

As of December 2018, the typical service is one train per hour to London Liverpool Street, calling at Thorpe-le-Soken, Wivenhoe, Colchester, Witham, Chelmsford, Ingatestone, Shenfield, Stratford and London Liverpool Street.

During peak hours the service level is increased to approximately four trains per hour. The first and last trains of the day start and terminate at Colchester.

Trains are usually formed of Class 321 or Class 360 electric multiple units.

References

  1. http://www.s-r-s.org.uk/railref/ref-ge.html
  2. Allen, Cecil J (1975). The Great Eastern Railway (Third ed.). Shepperton: Ian Allan. p. 237. ISBN 07110 0659 8.
  3. Body, Geoffrey (1986). PSL Field Guide, Railways of the Eastern Region; Vol 1: Southern Operating Area. Wellingborough: Patrick Stevens Ltd. p. 45. ISBN 0-85059-712-9.
  4. A Regional History of the railways of Great Britain; Vol 5; Eastern Counties; D I Gordon; Newton Abbot; 1968 p66
  5. Brailsford, Martyn (2016). Railway Track Diagrams Volume 2 Eastern. Frome: Teackmaps. p. 6. ISBN 978-0-9549866-8-1.
  6. "Changes to National Rail timetable from Sunday 20th May 2007". National Rail. Archived from the original on 21 May 2007. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
Preceding station National Rail Following station
Greater Anglia
Sunshine Coast Line
Clacton branch
Terminus
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