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Thursday 26 Jun 2025

Contract awarded for accessibility improvements at second Southend station

Region & Route:

Eastern: Anglia

Network Rail has awarded a second contract to Octavius within a month, this time to improve accessibility at Southend East station for c2c passengers.  

Plans for Southend East will include two new lifts and a new accessible footbridge, making it easier and safer for all passengers with reduced mobility, pushchairs or heavy luggage to move between street and platform level.   

This contract award follows a recent announcement to deliver accessibility improvements at Chalkwell station on the same line, which includes installing new lifts and replacing the existing footbridge. Awarding a second contract to Octavius will allow coordination of plans at these two stations in a joined-up delivery programme.  

The improvements at Southend East and Chalkwell are being funded by the Department for Transport’s ‘Access for All’ scheme which aims to improve accessibility for everyone across the UK’s rail network.   

This work is being coordinated with c2c which operates the station and Southend City Council, to plan and deliver the work that will improve accessibility for all passengers.  

Preparatory works are expected to start this autumn, and it is anticipated to be complete, and lifts open by end of 2026.  Once complete, the improvements will significantly enhance accessibility and make rail travel more convenient for everyone using Southend East station.  

More information will be shared at a public drop-in event (date to be confirmed) before the start of main construction to answer any questions that passengers and local residents may have about our plans.   

Katie Frost, Network Rail’s route director for Anglia, said:  
“With Octavius on board at Southend East as well as at Chalkwell, we are now driving forward a more inclusive railway with confidence. Working with our partners, this is a significant step towards delivering these benefits at Southend East for the benefit of all passengers who use the station.”   

Donna Thorpe, Asset Director at c2c, said:  "We are really pleased that work on both Southend East and Chalkwell stations is due to start before the end of this year. When complete, it will hugely benefit the local communities in Southend-on-Sea and all those using the c2c rail service, contributing to a much-improved customer experience for everyone. 

"While this work takes place, and to ensure disruption is as minimal as possible, we will continue to work closely with Network Rail, Octavius Infrastructure Ltd and Southend City Council.” 

Isayas Tecleberhan, Octavius Infrastructure Framework Director, said: “Following on from the recent Chalkwell Station announcement, being awarded Southend East extends our portfolio of AfA projects to well over thirty schemes, making Octavius one of the UK’s most experienced AfA delivery partners.

We continue to innovate, adopting a vertical linear beam (VLB) lift, at Southend East, only the third time the technology has been used on the UK rail network. The first VLB project was at Grays, another Octavius scheme.”