Crouch Valley Line

Crouch Valley Line
South Woodham Ferrers station
Overview
Type	Heavy rail
System	National Rail
Status	Operational
Locale	Essex East of England
Termini	Southminster Wickford
Stations	7
Operation
Opening	1889
Owner	Network Rail
Operator(s)	Abellio Greater Anglia
Character	Rural
Rolling stock	British Rail Class 315 British Rail Class 321 British Rail Class 360 occasionally
Technical
Line length	~24 mi (39 km)
No. of tracks	One (Two at North Fambridge)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	25 kV 50hz AC OHLE
Operating speed	75 mph maximum
Route map Legend miles/chains from London (Liverpool Street) Shenfield-Southend Victoria line 29m 02ch Wickford 29m 13ch Wickford Jn 31m 40ch Battlesbridge 34m 00ch South Woodham Ferrers Former line to Maldon West Hogwell Sidings 37m 25ch North Fambridge 40m 29ch Althorne Creeksea Sidings 43m 24ch Burnham-on-Crouch 45m 42ch Southminster

The Crouch Valley Line is a branch line from Wickford to Southminster in Essex. It is usually called the Southminster Branch ^[1] by users of the line, although that is no longer its official name. The line is part of the Network Rail Strategic Route 7, SRS 07.05 and is classified as a London and South East commuter line.^[2]

History

The 16.5 miles (26.6 km) route was first opened to goods traffic on 1 June 1889, and to passengers on 1 July 1889 by the Great Eastern Railway.^[3] The line was electrified at 25 kV AC overhead in 1986.

Passenger services are currently operated by Abellio Greater Anglia. They replaced the previous operator, National Express East Anglia on 5 February 2012. First Great Eastern previously operated the line until 1 April 2004, when all the operators in East Anglia were merged into one new franchise.

The number of trains on the Crouch Valley Line is restricted to two trains per hour (one train in each direction) on weekends and every 40 minutes on weekdays, with additional trains during the rush-hour. This is due to the limited capacity available after the line was reduced to single track in the 1960s as part of the Beeching Axe railway closures. The line was also used to take waste and fuel rods from Bradwell's decommissioned nuclear power station to the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing facility in Cumbria, but this service has now ceased. There are early stage plans to consider the construction of a new nuclear power station on the Bradwell site, which if given the go-ahead would bring with it the possibility of rail based construction material transport and future nuclear reprocessing rail traffic.

Infrastructure

The line diverges from the Shenfield-Southend Victoria line at Wickford. It is single track throughout, with a passing loop at North Fambridge station (the midpoint of the line) to allow trains travelling in opposite directions to pass. The line is electrified at 25 kV AC, has a loading gauge of W6, and a line speed of 40–75 mph.^[2]

All services are scheduled for operation by Class 321, Class 315 or occasionally Class 360 electrical multiple units.

References

External links

• The Crouch Valley Line today
• The History of the Crouch Valley Line

Railway lines in the East of England Primary North–South East Coast Main Line Hertford North Stevenage Peterborough Midland Main Line Luton Airport Parkway Luton Bedford West Coast Main Line Watford Junction London–Norwich Great Eastern Main Line Shenfield Ingatestone Chelmsford Hatfield Peverel Witham Kelvedon Marks Tey Colchester Manningtree Ipswich Stowmarket Diss Norwich Secondary Hertford Loop Line Lea Valley Lines London, Tilbury and Southend Line Thameslink Watford DC Line West Anglia Main Line Cambridge Others Abbey Line Birmingham to Peterborough Line Bittern Line Braintree Branch Line Breckland Line Crouch Valley Line East Suffolk Line Ely to Peterborough Line Felixstowe Branch Line Fen Line Gainsborough Line Hertford East Branch Line Hitchin–Cambridge Line Ipswich to Ely Line Marston Vale Line Mayflower Line Peterborough to Lincoln Line Shenfield to Southend Line Sunshine Coast Line Wherry Lines Heritage Colne Valley Railway Epping Ongar Railway Lincolnshire Wolds Railway Mid-Norfolk Railway North Norfolk Railway Mangapps Farm Railway Mid-Suffolk Light Railway