Crouch Valley line


The Crouch Valley line is a branch line off the Shenfield–Southend line in Essex, in the east of England. It links in the west to in the east. During peak hours, trains connect to or from the Great Eastern Main Line at, and its London terminus at Liverpool Street.
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. The stations and passenger services on the line are currently operated by Greater Anglia.

History

The route, which is in length, was opened to goods traffic on 1 June 1889 and to passengers on 1 July 1889, by the Great Eastern Railway. It was electrified at 25 kV AC overhead in 1986.
The number of trains on the Crouch Valley line is restricted to two trains per hour at weekends and two every 40 minutes on weekdays, with some additional services during peak times. This is due to the limited capacity available after the line was reduced to a single track in the 1960s as part of the Beeching cuts. It has also been used to take waste and fuel rods from Bradwell nuclear power station to the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing facility in Cumbria.

Infrastructure

The line diverges from the Shenfield–Southend line at. It is single track throughout, except for one passing loop at to allow trains travelling in opposite directions to pass one another.
Only Wickford and have platforms long enough to accommodate 12-coach trains, while each of the other stations on the line can accommodate eight coaches, though services on the line are typically only formed of four carriages due to the short terminus platform at Wickford being able to accommodate one four-car train.
The line is electrified at 25 kV AC, has a loading gauge of W6, and a maximum line speed of 50 mph, except for between Battlesbridge and North Fambridge, where the limit is 60 mph.

Stations

The following table summarises the line's seven stations, their distance measured from, and estimated number of passenger entries/exits in 2018/19:
StationLocationLocal authorityMileagePatronage
WickfordBorough of Basildon292,261,210
BattlesbridgeCity of Chelmsford31½16,446
South Woodham FerrersCity of Chelmsford34513,228
North FambridgeDistrict of Maldon37¼83,038
AlthorneDistrict of Maldon40¼43,816
Burnham-on-CrouchDistrict of Maldon43¼241,362
SouthminsterDistrict of Maldon45½128,666

Services

Trains are formed by units. Services are currently operated by Greater Anglia. The company replaced the previous operator, National Express East Anglia, in 2012. First Great Eastern previously operated the line until 2004, when all the operators in East Anglia were merged into one new franchise.
There are limited ticket facilities along the route so an onboard ticket inspector is often provided on the train to assist passengers.