Southend Central railway station is on the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway line and is one of two primary stations serving the town of Southend-on-Sea, Essex. The town's other main station is called Southend Victoria which is the terminus of a branch line off the Great Eastern Main Line. Southend Central is 35 miles 55 chains (57.4 km) down line from London Fenchurch Street via Basildon and it is situated between Westcliff and Southend East. Its three-letter station code is SOC.
It was opened in 1856 as the original eastern terminus of the line, which was later extended to Shoeburyness. The station and all trains serving it are currently operated by c2c.
Southend Central has four platforms:
- Platform 1 is a bay platform; trains may terminate at this platform if platform 4 is not available for use or when engineering works are taking place between Southend Central and Shoeburyness. It was formerly disused but is now occasionally required.
- Platform 2 is typically for eastbound services towards Shoeburyness.
- Platform 3 is typically for westbound services towards London Fenchurch Street via Basildon.
- Platform 4 is a bay platform typically for westbound services towards London Fenchurch Street via the Ockendon branch or via Rainham.
Facilities at the station include a partially sheltered bicycle storage rack and a car park. The ticket office has two serving positions, one of which is fully accessible, and uses the Tribute ticket issuing system.
Following the successful refurbishment of Benfleet railway station, c2c implemented a similar project at Southend Central. The work cost £460,000 and was jointly funded by c2c and Southend Borough Council. It involved the complete refurbishment of the ticket office and toilets and the construction of a new forecourt on the north side of the station (leading to platform 2) opposite the University of Essex Southend campus, with new steps and handrails on both sides of the canopy, and a new glass roof and lighting over the bicycle parking area. It was completed in 2007 after around four weeks of work.
When the London Underground's District line operated a seasonal non-stop excursion train service between 1910 and 1939 through to the Southend area, Southend Central was the second station to be called at after leaving Upminster.