London, Tilbury and Southend Railway

London-Tilbury-Southend Line
Class 357 unit between Barking and Upminster.
Overview
Type	Commuter rail, Heavy rail
System	National Rail
Status	Operational
Locale	Greater London East of England
Termini	London Fenchurch Street Shoeburyness
Stations	26
Operation
Opened	1854
Owner	Network Rail
Operator(s)	c2c
Depot(s)	East Ham and Shoeburyness
Rolling stock	Class 357 "Electrostar"
Technical
Line length	39.5 miles (63.57 km)
No. of tracks	2
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	25 kV AC
Operating speed	up to 75 mph (121 km/h)
Route map Legend Legend 0mi 0ch Fenchurch Street x20px Docklands Light Railway to Bank File:BSicon leer+hl.svg File:BSicon dHUBq-L.svg File:BSicon dHUBq-L.svg x20px Tower Gateway () | Minories x20px x20px Leman Street x20px x20px Cannon Street Road File:BSicon leer+hl.svg File:BSicon leer+hr.svg Shadwell ()East London Line x20px x20px Shadwell & St. George's East File:BSicon uhvBS2+l-R.svg x20px File:BSicon exvSHI3r-.svg x20px former London & Blackwall Rly x20px File:BSicon leer+hr.svg x20px x20px 1mi 58ch Limehouse x20px File:BSicon leer+hl.svg x20px Docklands Light Railway File:BSicon leer+hl.svg x20px File:BSicon leer+hr.svg x20px Regents Canal x20px x20px Burdett Road x20px x20px Gas Factory Junction x20px File:BSicon leer+hr.svg LU District line & Hammersmith & City line x20px File:BSicon leer+hr.svg x20px to Great Eastern Main Line Docklands Light Railway 3mi 18ch Bromley-by-Bow x20px Bow Creek 4mi 8ch West Ham 4mi 45ch Plaistow 5mi 28ch Upton Park 6mi 18ch East Ham East Ham Depot Gospel Oak to Barking Line to Gospel Oak 7mi 42ch Barking 8mi 46ch Upney 9mi 48ch Becontree 10mi 36ch Dagenham Heathway 10mi 45ch Dagenham Dock 11mi 25ch Dagenham East 12mi 54ch Rainham 12mi 57ch Elm Park 13mi 56ch Hornchurch 14mi 38ch Upminster Bridge Romford to Upminster Line to Romford 15mi 20ch Upminster Upminster Depot M25 motorway Mileage change 3mi 5ch Ockendon 5mi 38ch Chafford Hundred Lakeside Mileage change 16mi 2ch Purfleet 19mi 15ch West Horndon West Thurrock Junction 19mi 70ch Grays 21mi 48ch Tilbury Town for bus to Gravesend ferry Tilbury Freight Terminal Tilbury Riverside Low Street 22mi 69ch Laindon 24mi 26ch Basildon 25mi 7ch East Tilbury London Gateway 27mi 13ch Stanford-le-Hope 1: 32mi 37ch 2: 26mi 42ch Pitsea Mileage change Pitsea Junction 29mi 11ch Benfleet 32mi 43ch Leigh-on-Sea 33mi 69ch Chalkwell 34mi 66ch Westcliff 35mi 55ch Southend Central 36mi 49ch Southend East 37mi 73ch Thorpe Bay   Shoeburyness carriage sidings   39mi 40ch Shoeburyness Pig's Bay

The London, Tilbury and Southend Railway is a railway line in England linking Fenchurch Street railway station in the City of London with the northern Thames Gateway area of southern Essex. It is now known as the Essex Thameside Route by Network Rail and forms part of strategic route 6. It is classified as a London and South East commuter line. Passenger train services on the line form the Essex Thameside franchise that is operated by c2c, a train operating company and part of the National Express Group.

The main route from Fenchurch Street to Shoeburyness via Basildon is 39.5 miles (63.57 km) and the fastest timetabled journey time from Fenchurch Street to Shoeburyness is 58 minutes giving an average speed of 40.7 miles per hour (65.5 km/h), although the route can be done in 47 minutes, giving an average speed of 50 miles per hour (80 km/h). A loop line serving Tilbury provides an alternative connection from London to Southend; and a branch line connecting the two via Chafford Hundred forms a third route. The line has a maximum speed limit of 75 mph (121 km/h), although the Class 357 Electrostar trains which run on it are capable of a maximum speed of 100 mph (160 km/h).

The line was authorised in 1852 and the first section was opened in 1854 by the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway Company, which was a joint venture between the London and Blackwall Railway and the Eastern Counties Railway. The line was extended in phases and partnerships were formed with the Midland Railway and District Railway to provide through services. The line was purchased by the Midland Railway in 1912 and became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway in 1923.

History

London, Tilbury & Southend Line
Fenchurch Street Limehouse London and Blackwall Railway Commercial Road Regent's Canal Burdett Road   London and Blackwall Extension Railway to GEML Whitechapel and Bow Railway Bromley A12 road River Lea West Ham Plaistow Upton Park East Ham Gospel Oak to Barking Line North Circular Road River Roding Barking A13 road Becontree Barking Riverside (proposed) Dagenham East Dagenham Dock Hornchurch Rainham Upminster A13 road M25 motorway Purfleet A13 road Ockendon Dartford Crossing Chafford Hundred Lakeside Grays West Horndon Tilbury Town Tilbury Riverside Laindon East Tilbury London Gateway Basildon Low Street Stanford-le-Hope A13 road Pitsea Benfleet Leigh-on-Sea Chalkwell Westcliff Southend Central Southend East Thorpe Bay Shoeburyness

Initial construction

Construction of the 36-mile (58 km) line was authorised by Parliament on 17 June 1852. The first section, constructed by Peto and Grissell, was opened between Forest Gate junction on the Eastern Counties Railway and Tilbury, via Barking and Grays on 13 April 1854. Services initially ran from Fenchurch Street and Bishopsgate stations over existing lines to Stratford and Forest Gate Junction. Further extensions opened in late 1854 to Horndon, to Leigh-on-Sea on 1 July 1855 and finally to Southend on 1 March 1856. In 1858 a more direct route to Fenchurch Street was constructed through Bromley, Plaistow and East Ham, connecting with the London and Blackwall Extension Railway at Bow; and the service from Bishopsgate was withdrawn. Under the management of civil engineer Arthur Lewis Stride the line was extended from Southend to Shoeburyness in 1884. A more direct route from Barking to Pitsea via Upminster was constructed between 1885 and 1888, completing the current main route. A single track branch was constructed between Romford and Grays via Upminster in 1892–1893.

Route development

'LTSR' canopy support at East Ham (no longer served)

In 1902 the Whitechapel and Bow Railway was constructed as a joint venture with the District Railway, connecting the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway at Bow with the District Railway at Whitechapel. The connection allowed through running of District Railway trains from the tunnels under central London to provide local services to Upminster from 2 June 1902. When the Metropolitan, District and Whitechapel & Bow Railway lines were electrified, an additional pair of tracks was constructed between Bow and East Ham and the service was cut back to there on 30 September 1905. The electrified tracks were extended to Barking and opened on 1 April 1908. Delayed by World War I, the electric tracks were extended to Upminster and District line services started on 12 September 1932.

The London Plan Working Party Report of 1949 envisaged as its Route G the LTSR electrified and diverted away from Fenchurch Street to Bank and on through the Waterloo & City line tunnels to Waterloo and its suburban lines. Of course, the Waterloo & City tunnels would have had to be bored out to main line size for this "Crossrail" to happen. However, electrification went ahead from 1961 to 1962 and direct passenger services from Bromley, Plaistow, Upton Park, East Ham, Becontree, Dagenham and Hornchurch to Fenchurch Street were withdrawn. In 1974 a station opened to serve the new town of Basildon and in 1995 a station was built at Chafford Hundred to serve the new community there and Lakeside Shopping Centre. Platforms were reestablished and opened at West Ham station in 1999 to provide interchange with the extended Jubilee line.

Ownership and management

LMS 3-cylinder 2-6-4T No. 2500 built specifically for the LTSR section at National Railway Museum, York in 2003

The railway was initially jointly promoted by the Eastern Counties Railway and London and Blackwall Railway and was leased for 21 years to Peto, Brassey and Betts. The lease expired in 1875, leaving the LT&SR to take over operation itself. The Midland Railway and London, Tilbury and Southend Railway jointly constructed the Tottenham and Forest Gate Railway, which enabled through running of trains between St Pancras railway station and Tilbury Docks. In 1912 the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway was vested in the Midland Railway following an Act of 7 August 1912, though the MR did not assume full control until 1 October 1920. At grouping in 1923, the line became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway was nationalised into British Railways in 1948 and in 1949 the LTSR line became part of the Eastern Region. The line was electrified in the late 1950s. In 1986 the route was transferred to the Network SouthEast sector of British Rail. On privatisation in 1996, ownership passed to Railtrack and Prism Rail took over operations of the London, Tilbury and Southend franchise; marketing the route as LTS Rail. Ownership passed to Network Rail in 2002. Prism Rail were bought out by National Express Group in 2000 and in 2002 the line was rebranded as c2c.

Rolling stock

See Locomotives of the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway for full details of LTSR built steam locomotives.

The line was known for its use of 4-4-2 tank engines which were later displaced by 2-6-4Ts after it had been absorbed into the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) in 1923.

There were three engine sheds on the route - Plaistow (which was also the location of the works), Tilbury and Shoeburyness.

On 30 January 1958, the accident at Dagenham East caused the loss of 10 lives and 93 injured.

After electrification in 1962 most services were operated by British Railways Class 302 Electric Multiple Units (EMUs) which were withdrawn in 1998, leaving the Class 310s and 312s in service until they were replaced by Class 357 EMUs. These are stabled at Shoeburyness and East Ham depot where they are also maintained.

Modernisation

Modern c2c Electrostar train on LT&SR route

During the early 1990s proposals were put forward to convert the whole line into a guided busway, however these plans were quickly dismissed when British Rail announced a complete re-signalling of the line. Over the years the LTS had been used in an almost experimental fashion and contained a whole host of different signalling systems (e.g. geographical, WESTPAC and relay interlockings). In 1995 work got underway to replace everything from signals and point machines to whole junctions.

The main contractor for the work was GEC Alsthom who provided a Mark 3 Solid State Interlocking (SSI) system with SEMA providing the IECC element at Upminster that replaced all signal boxes on the whole line. Main line running signals mostly became 4 aspect colour lights (replacing searchlight signals amongst others), all point machines were replaced with HW2000 machines and the whole line had a complete fibre optic network installed. All level crossings were renewed with full barriers to be CCTV controlled by a designated workstation at Upminster.

The main line between East Ham and Shoeburyness was also bi-directionally signalled (with 3 aspect signalling) along most parts, with the bi-directional section alternating from one track to the other between certain stations, to provide maximum flexibility for continuing operations should disruption occur.

The line was re-signalled over the Easter weekend 1996 when all the signal boxes from Fenchurch Street to Shoeburyness (via Basildon) were switched out and control was transferred to Upminster IECC. This was later followed over the 1996 August bank holiday when Upminster took control from the remaining boxes on the Tilbury Loop.

Stations

	Station	Local authority	Fare zone	Usage	Start	TPH	Connections/Notes
Main route
	London Fenchurch Street	City of London	1	18.245	1854	8	Tower Hill tube station and Tower Gateway DLR station
	Limehouse	Tower Hamlets	2	3.251	1854	6	DLR
	West Ham	Newham	3	3.690	1901	8	District line, Hammersmith and City line, Jubilee line, DLR
	Barking	Barking and Dagenham	4	8.331	1854	8	Barking to Pitsea via Rainham loop, District line, Hammersmith and City line, Gospel Oak to Barking Line
	Upminster	Havering	6	4.530	1885	6	Upminster to Grays branch, District line, Romford to Upminster Line
	West Horndon	Brentwood	outside zones	0.355	1888	2
	Laindon	Basildon	outside zones	1.946	1888	4
	Basildon	Basildon	outside zones	2.764	1974	4
	Pitsea	Basildon	outside zones	1.114	1855	4	Barking to Pitsea via Rainham loop
	Benfleet	Castle Point	outside zones	3.401	1855	6
	Leigh-on-Sea	Southend-on-Sea	outside zones	2.000	1856	6
	Chalkwell	Southend-on-Sea	outside zones	1.735	1856	6
	Westcliff	Southend-on-Sea	outside zones	0.957	1895	6
	Southend Central	Southend-on-Sea	outside zones	1.955	1856	6
	Southend East	Southend-on-Sea	outside zones	1.902	1932	4
	Thorpe Bay	Southend-on-Sea	outside zones	0.812	1884	4
	Shoeburyness	Southend-on-Sea	outside zones	0.690	1884	4
Upminster to Grays branch
	Ockendon	Thurrock	G	0.692	1892	2
	Chafford Hundred	Thurrock	G	2.084	1993	2
Barking to Pitsea via Rainham loop
	Dagenham Dock	Barking and Dagenham	5	0.362	1908	2
	Rainham	Havering	6	1.748	1854	2
	Purfleet	Thurrock	G	0.501	1854	2
	Purfleet Rifle Range Halt	Thurrock		0.501	1910	2	Initially opened for military use only but for public use from 1921 until closure in 1948.
	Grays	Thurrock	G	3.224	1854	4	Upminster to Grays branch
	Tilbury Town	Thurrock	outside zones	0.843	1854	2
	East Tilbury	Thurrock	outside zones	0.321	1936	2
	Stanford-le-Hope	Thurrock	outside zones	0.998	1854	2

• ^a Millions of entries and exits during the 2013/14 financial year
• ^b Year station first served by London, Tilbury and Southend Railway service (could be served earlier by another company)
• ^c Off-peak Monday-Saturday trains per hour frequency in the December 2009 timetable
• ^d Service suspended in 1913 and reintroduced in 1999

Diversion to Liverpool Street

The main terminus is Fenchurch Street

When necessary, due to engineering work or other problems, trains can be diverted at Barking over the Gospel Oak to Barking Line and then the Great Eastern Main Line to call at Stratford and Liverpool Street. Trains diverted at Barking, having passed Stratford, can also rejoin the London, Tilbury and Southend line before Limehouse (avoiding West Ham) and continue to Fenchurch Street. This route is used by a limited service on Monday to Friday between Shoeburyness or Grays and Fenchurch Street via Stratford and consists of a short section of single track at Bow. From May 1985 to May 2007, the weekday service after 22:30 operated from Liverpool Street. As of May 2010, most through services now start and terminate at Fenchurch Street, with a limited number of late evening and early morning weekday services operating to Liverpool Street. Westbound there are currently two services from Barking and one from Stanford-le-Hope, Grays and Southend Central to Liverpool Street. Eastbound there are only two services from Liverpool Street to Barking.

Proposed developments

2007 proposals

The Greater Anglia RUS, published in December 2007, outlined a number of developments intended for the Thameside Route. In the medium term, 2009–14, this includes minor infrastructure works and additional rolling stock to allow all main line peak-service trains to be extended to 12-car formation. Also included is the proposal for the extension of platforms on the Tilbury loop and Ockendon branch to handle 12 cars, to allow all main line peak-service trains to be extended to 8 or 12-car formation. In the longer term intentions are to continue the lengthening of peak trains to 12-car formation. A new railway station was proposed at Beam Reach, between Dagenham Dock and Rainham, near Marsh Way road and CEME Innovation Centre (between A13 and A1306).

London Gateway (port) link

The London Gateway deep water port currently under construction will be linked to the line. Work of the port started in February 2010 and it is expected to handle 3.5 million TEU annually. The first stage of the dock is already open and it will be fully completed over the next ten to 15 years.

Preservation

Of the original LTS, 4-4-2T number 80 survives as a stationary exhibit at Bressingham Steam Museum in Norfolk. An ex-LT&S BR Std (80079) is preserved as a stationary exhibit, on the Severn Valley Railway in Shropshire. Another ex LTS locomotive BR 42500 is the sole remaining member of the 36 3 cylinder 2-6-4 tank engines built by the LMS in the 1930s for the London Tilbury and Southend line. It is preserved in LMS livery at the National Railway Museum in York.

Shipping activity

Until 1855 the ferry crossing between Tilbury and Gravesend in Kent was operated by sailing and rowing boats, but in that year steam driven vessels were introduced on the River Thames crossing. On formation of the London,Tilbury and Southend Railway Company that operation became part of its activities.

Responsibility for the ferry operation was transferred to the Midland Railway Company and the London, Midland and Scottish Railway in 1912 and 1923 respectively.

Particulars of the ferry service and the vessels employed are listed at Gravesend-Tilbury Ferry.

References

Notes

Bibliography

External links

• Bibliography
• Detailed description of Tilbury Riverside at Disused Stations web site
• collection of 1940 clips, starting with restored 'Thundersley'