Rayleigh railway station

Rayleigh railway station is on the Shenfield to Southend Line in the East of England, serving the town of Rayleigh, in Essex. It lies down the line from, and is situated between to the west and to the east. Each of the two platforms has an operational length for 12-coach trains.

History

The line from Wickford to Southend, including Rayleigh station was opened on 1 October 1889, by the Great Eastern Railway. There was a goods yard to the west of the station, on the 'up' side, including a goods shed and cattle pens. There was a signal box on the 'down' platform, which was closed in 1938 with the introduction of colour light signalling. Overhead electrification of the Shenfield–Southend line at 1.5 kV DC was completed on 31 December 1956; that was changed to 6.25 kV AC in November 1960 and to 25 kV AC in January 1979.
To the west of the station, there was a private halt called Bridge 774, which was used from May 1922 to April 1925 during construction work on the Southend Arterial Road. To the east, there was a siding called Downhall, associated with a brickworks which had been decommissioned by 1968.

Facilities

It is a small station, with a ticket office but no barriers. The ticket office is open seven days a week during daytimes and early evenings; access to the platforms is available at other times through a gate to the left of the building. Outside the station, there is a taxi rank, a 437-space car park, bus stops and a newsagent.

Service

Greater Anglia operates all trains serving the station.
The typical weekday off-peak service is three trains per hour in each direction between and London Liverpool Street; services join the Great Eastern Main Line at. At peak times, service frequencies are increased and calling patterns more varied.