Frinton-on-Sea railway station
Frinton-on-Sea railway station is on the Walton branch of the Sunshine Coast Line in the East of England, serving the seaside town of Frinton-on-Sea, Essex. It is down the line from London Liverpool Street and is situated between to the west and to the east. Its three-letter station code is FRI.
The station was opened by Great Eastern Railway in 1888. It is currently managed by Greater Anglia, which also operates all trains serving the station.
History
This section of line was built as the Tendring Hundred Railway and opened in 1867. The Tendring Hundred Railway was operated by the Great Eastern Railway, which subsequently bought the line and the adjacent Clacton-on-Sea Railway on 1 July 1883.When the line first opened there was no station at Frinton, which was then a very small village. The nearest stations were at Kirby Cross and Walton-on-the-Naze. In the mid-1880s developers began to lay out a new resort town at Frinton, and reached an agreement with the railway company to build a new station. The station was opened with the name Frinton in July 1888.
The line became part of the London and North Eastern Railway in 1923 and then the Eastern Region of British Railways in 1948 following nationalisation of the railways.
The station is immediately to the west of a level crossing that provides road access to Frinton. Residents of the town who live inside the gates of the crossing attach a particular status to this fact. These wooden gates were, until 2009, the only manually operated level crossing gates on the line. The level crossing is now protected by a barrier system.
The station's name was changed to Frinton-on-Sea in 2007.
Services
In 1929 the LNER introduced luxurious Pullman day excursion trips from Liverpool Street to various seaside resorts. The service known as the Eastern Belle served on Mondays, Frinton and Walton on Tuesdays, Clacton on Wednesdays, and and on Thursdays and Fridays. The service ended in September 1939 at the outset of World War II.The current service pattern is:
| Operator | Route | Rolling stock | Frequency | Notes |
| Greater Anglia | Colchester - Colchester Town - Hythe - Wivenhoe - Alresford - Great Bentley - Weeley - Thorpe-le-Soken - Kirby Cross - Frinton-on-Sea - Walton-on-the-Naze | Class 720 | 1x per hour | Monday-Saturday |
| Greater Anglia | Thorpe-le-Soken - Kirby Cross - Frinton-on-Sea - Walton-on-the-Naze | Class 720 | 1x per hour | Sunday |
Passengers for must change at Thorpe-le-Soken for a connection, except for the final Thorpe-le-Soken-bound train of the day on weekdays.