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Thursday 4 Jun 2026

Station accessibility upgrades continue at Southend East

Region & Route:

Eastern: Anglia

From June 2026, GBR Anglia will begin changes to station entrances at Southend East in Essex. This work will support the installation of new power supplies and systems for future lifts, helping make the station step-free and improve accessibility for passengers.

c2c, Greater Anglia and Network Rail Anglia are working together as Anglia’s integrated railway, bringing track and train closer together to improve planning, strengthen day-to-day coordination and deliver a more joined-up railway for customers across the region.

Using the southern entrance, customers will be able to reach Platform 1 serving London-bound services and then use the existing station footbridge to access Platform 2 serving Shoeburyness-bound services. Slightly longer walking routes will be required as part of this temporary arrangement, and customers are advised to allow additional time when planning their journeys.

To enable these works, the station will also be closed to customers on the following weekends:

• Saturday 6 and Sunday 7 June 2026
• Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 June 2026

The road in front of the station (Riviera Drive) will need to be temporarily closed from 11 June to 16 June to facilitate the delivery of the materials to conduct the works. A short diversion route will be in place during this time.

Rail customers are being advised that a rail replacement bus service will be in place between Leigh-on-Sea and Shoeburyness on these weekends and to allow extra time to complete your journey. 

These temporary access arrangements will remain in place until further notice. The northern entrance is expected to reopen once this stage of the programme is complete; a confirmed reopening date will be communicated in due course.

Joe Kennedy, infrastructure director for GBR Anglia, said: “These works form an important part of delivering accessibility improvements at Southend East station.

“The underground power and systems installation is essential to support the new lifts, and the temporary arrangements allow us to carry out this crucial phase of the project safely.

“This is one of the enabling stages needed to create space for the new lifts and replacement footbridge, so passengers may start to see more visible changes at the station as the project moves forward.”