Crouch Valley Line
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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 majority of the line is formed by Network Rail route EA 1060; the short (11 ch.) length between Wickford Junction and Wickford Station is a small section of Network Rail route EA 1050[2].
Places served by the line are:
- Wickford
- Battlesbridge
- South Woodham Ferrers
- North Fambridge
- Althorne
- Burnham-on-Crouch
- Southminster
The line diverges from the Shenfield-Southend Victoria line at Wickford. It is single track throughout, with a passing loop at North Fambridge station (which is the mid-point of the line to allow trains in opposite directions to pass).
The 16.5-mile route was first opened to goods traffic on 1 June 1889, and passengers on 1 July 1889[3]. The line was electrified at 25 kV AC overhead in 1986
The number of trains on the Crouch Valley Line is normally restricted to two trains per hour (one train in each direction), with additional trains during the rush-hour. This is due to the limited track space available when the line was drastically cut back by Dr. Beeching to one track in the 60's as part of the Beeching Axe railway closures. The line used to take overnight waste and fuel rods from Bradwell's decommissioned power station to another part of the country each Thursday but this service has now ceased.[citation needed]
As the line is deemed minor, it often gets the oldest rolling stock of trains in operation by the current operators, whereas the mainline trains and even the Southend line trains get more up-to-date stock. That said, some of the very oldest stock used on the Southminster line was scrapped in 2004.
Passenger services are currently operated by National Express East Anglia. They replaced the previous operator, First Great Eastern, on 1 April 2004, when all the operators in East Anglia were merged into one new franchise. Services are usually formed using Class 321/3 electrical multiple units.
The map has been produced using data from Trackmaps[4].
[edit] References
- ^ Southminster Branch Line
- ^ Rules of the Plan 2007 (7 July). Retrieved on 2007-06-15.
- ^ Denis L. Swindale. "Southminster Survivor Celebrates 100", Maldon and Burnham Standard, 1989-06-29.
- ^ QUAIL Railway Track Diagrams by Trackmaps
[edit] External links
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