Rayleigh railway station

Notes
	Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Rayleigh (RLG)
Rayleigh (RLG)
	Rayleigh railway station in 2006
General information
Location	Rayleigh, Rochford; England
Coordinates	51°35′20″N 0°36′04″E / 51.589°N 0.601°E
Grid reference	TQ802910
Managed by	Greater Anglia
Platforms	2
Other information
Station code	RLG
Classification	DfT category C2
History
Opened	1 October 1889
Passengers
2018/19	1.833 million
2019/20	1.660 million
2020/21	0.352 million
2021/22	1.028 million
2022/23	1.332 million
Notes
Notes
	Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Rayleigh railway station is on the Shenfield to Southend Line in the East of England, serving the town of Rayleigh, Essex. It is 33 miles 9 chains (53.29 km) down the line from London Liverpool Street and is situated between Wickford to the west and Hockley to the east. The Engineer's Line Reference for the line is SSV; the station's three-letter station code is RLG. 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.^[1] There was a goods yard to the west of the station, on the 'up' (London-bound) side, including a goods shed and cattle pens.^[2] There was a signal box on the 'down' (country-bound) platform, which was closed in 1938 with the introduction of colour light signalling.^[3] Electrification of the Shenfield to Southend Victoria line using 1.5 kV DC overhead electrification 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.^[2]

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.^[2] To the east of the station there was a siding called Downhall, associated with a brickworks,^[2] which had been decommissioned by 1968.^[4]

Location and services

Rayleigh station is currently managed by Greater Anglia, which also operates all trains serving the station.

It is a small station with a ticket office but no barriers. When the ticket office is closed, access to the platforms is available through a gate to the left of the building. Outside the station there is a taxi rank, car park, bus stops and a newsagent. The town centre is a short, uphill walk from the station.

The typical weekday off-peak service is three trains per hour to Southend Victoria and three to London Liverpool Street (services join the Great Eastern Main Line for London at Shenfield). At peak times, service frequencies may be increased and calling patterns varied.

References

^ "Rayleigh Heritage Trail - Railway Station".
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Mitchell, Vic (2010). Branch Lines to Southend and Southminster. Midhurst Sussex: Middleton Press. ISBN 978-1-906008-76-5.
^ Notice: Colour light signalling between Wickford and Southend. London and North Eastern Railway (1938). Published by Great Eastern Railways Society (2003) ISBN 1 85622 251 9
^ Route training manual Liverpool Street to Ipswich and branches. British Rail Eastern Region (September 1968). Published by Great Eastern Railways Society (1992) ISBN 1 85622 239 X