Purpose of the trip
Most of my trips are designed around visiting rail routes not previously covered – which in some ways is true of today. However the main attraction today is that at the end of the week the Tilbury – Gravesend ferry is to be withdrawn – and so a day has been devised around that journey.
Back in the latter half of the seventies I had a week commuting to Southend and thought that I had planned the week to cover all possible routes to and from London to what was then the town of Southend and which now has City status. My records (created years later) show that this may not be the case or that my memory is faulty – so the plan ensures the track is covered.
The plan for today is:
| Dep Time | Hcode | Route | Arr Time | Railmiles | NRT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0842 | 1O61 | Sandhurst to Guildford | 0908 | 14mi 25ch | 14.25 |
| 0934 | 2P26 | Guildford to Waterloo | 1016 | 30 mi 1 ch | 30.25 |
| Jubilee line to West Ham | 7mi 41ch | ||||
| 1102 | 2R84 | West Ham to Grays | 1127 | 15mi 48ch | 15.75 |
| 1148 | 2D26 | Grays to Tilbury | 1151 | 1mi 62ch | 1.75 |
| 1203 | Bus | ||||
| 1230 | Tilbury - Gravesend | 12?? | |||
| 1242 | Gravesend - Tilbury | 12?? | |||
| Bus | 1318 | ||||
| 1320 | 2D32 | Tilbury - Southend Central | 1354 | 20mi 16ch | 20.25 |
| Southend Pier Railway (rtn) | 2.5 | ||||
| 1511 | 2D57 | Southend Central - West Ham | 1616 | 40mi 66ch | 41 |
| Jubilee line to Waterloo | 7mi 41ch | ||||
| 1700 | 1P53 | Waterloo - Guildford | 1733 | 30mi 1 ch | 30.25 |
| 1744 | 1V57 | Guildford - Sandhurst | 1811 | 14mi 25ch | 14.25 |
| 182mi 6ch | 167.75 |
Notes:
Railmiles excludes bus, water and Pier Railway miles
NRT excludes Jubilee line, water, bus and Pier Railway
As before my thanks to Real Time Trains for the material in the links.
Operations on the Day
Sandhurst – Waterloo
I attempt to buy a ticket from the Guard on the GWR service to Guildford. Their ticket machines only issue floppy paper tickets which do not work on TfL gates so as ever a polite refusal. Luckily because of the appalling GWR timetable I have time to go to the ticket office at Guildford. The continuing problem where by a ticket issued at Guildford station (commencing at Sandhurst) does NOT open the ticket gates at Guildford continues. I am sure this is capable of being fixed but obviously we are on NGAD railway once again. Having re-entered the station we have an on time run to Waterloo.
Jubilee Line
Down into the depths of Waterloo and take the Jubilee line to West Ham where I am regularly advised that the lifts are not functioning. There is time to take some photographs of the stock operating through the station. Not much to say about the Jubilee line apart from it being hard to believe that it simply did not exist when I first came to London. Only the National Rail platforms actually appear to have numbers. Entrance to these platforms is at one end – but c2c prefers to park its outbound shorter trains at the far end of the platforms rather than having a shorter car length stop mid-platform.
West Ham to Grays and thence to Tilbury Town
This route is one of those not shown as having been previously traversed on my records and travelling on it today I admit I have no recollection of it. Along much of the route it is closely tracked by the main line to the Continent – and to show how much it is used only one Javelin set passes by! All that infrastructure and not that many obvious trains! My first train terminates in the bay platform at Grays and there is then a wait for the onward service. This line used to carry a more regular service but that now runs via the line through Ockenden.
This wait is marred by a bunch of young men considering it is their right to abuse the security guard adjacent to the ticket gate stating that one (and maybe more) would be travelling without a ticket and the obviously outnumbered security guard having little choice but to give way. They missed the departure of the train from the bay platform so had to cross over to the far side but the shouting and unpleasant behaviour continued. I journey onward to Grays on a train which has arrived from Chafford Hundreds which I shall visit later.
My ticket says “Tilbury Town or Riverside” – the latter station having closed and vanished in the nineties, with no obvious evidence now remaining that it existed. The line has been replaced by a bus service and there is a group of passengers waiting for the bus – some with cases are obviously going to the International Port adjacent to the ferry terminal from where cruise ships depart. The pier for the ferry to Gravesend is pretty basic in comparison. Whilst Real Time Trains shows departure times for the bus to Riverside and the PA announces where to catch the bus the staff at the station seem unaware of the timetable when asked (by another passenger) and I cannot find a timetable at the bus stop. Not helpful. I do not test my ticket being accepted and instead proffer my bus pass which is accepted without question – or any obvious record.
Tilbury – Gravesend Ferry
Jetstream Tours are the current ferry operator using “Jacob Marley” a 98 person capacity Class IV vessel of catamaran design and smartly transfers the assembled passengers to Gravesend. This moves us smartly across to Gravesend where I remain on board. The passengers are clearly a mix of locals and those travelling for the last time before the service ends and before long we are on the return journey. Uneventful is the best description. I later find that my bus pass would have been valid so someone has made money as I paid £5.50! Once back on the pier head I take some photographs before heading back to the bus – and despite my extended stay I just make it before it sets off on a grand circular tour of the Tilbury area. Not exactly the most desirable area I have visited recently. I have a long wait at Tilbury Town station once reached so it must be lunchtime.
Tilbury Town – Southend Central
A lightly loaded 357 appears for this service and it is largely a pleasant run, much of it Thameside, as we head east to the second destination of the day. It steadily becomes more prosperous as we head through South Essex. Emerging from the station (gates open – no staff visible) there are signs for the seafront and pier and I avoid the new lifts from 2016 on the downward journey – walking down steps is not difficult. Across the road is my planned destination – the Pier and the railway.
The Southend Pier Railway
The track gauge is 3ft and the pier is 1.25 miles long. Those I can see on the pier itself are well wrapped up – so I am taking a return journey (£4). One of the new battery electric units is in use today, the other one is standing spare. These date from 2021 with one of the 1986 diesel trains stored at the pier end allegedly as a “spare” although it cannot see much use. The 1986 and 2021 sets were all built by Severn Lamb. From 1889 to 1978 it operated as a 3′ 6″ gauge electric railway and was then closed until 1986 when it re-opened with the diesel sets following rebuilding.
There are two platforms at the land end (one housing the spare battery electric unit) and a passing place half way along the pier with two platforms at the sea end (one housing the spare diesel set).
A half hourly service was running on the day of my visit and this seems to apply apart from the busiest days. The journey takes about 8 – 10 minutes and so there is only about 5 minutes before the service returns on the quarter hour.
Southend Central – West Ham
I take the new lifts to the town level before wandering back to the station. It is many years since I last visited Southend and like many seaside towns I do not get the feeling it has improved in the interim. Southend Central station platform roofs look like they need attention and the (now) City looks generally depressed. On my return I need to find my ticket as the gateline is now staffed.
My return train is waiting in the bay platform and it retraces my earlier journey as far as Tilbury Town before taking the line through Chafford Hundreds – opened in May 1995 to serve the extensive local housing and Lakeside shopping centre. It is single track on this section and it is my belief that this is likely to have been my first coverage of the line as it was for a while an Upminster – Grays shuttle, calling at the only station, Ockenden and I do not think it featured in my travels. So new track I believe. In 2022/2023, Chafford Hundred Lakeside had 2,127,970 entries and exits, making it the 222nd most used station in Great Britain. This makes it the busiest single platform station in the UK beating Windsor and Eton Central (1,580,166). With thanks to Railway Data Centre for providing easy access to these numbers.
At West Ham I do not hang around – straight to the Jubilee and onto Waterloo station.
Waterloo – Sandhurst
I just miss the 16:45 departure – I am at the gateline as the train gets the route. So I can snaffle a coffee with the 17:00 is at the adjacent platform and get on board and get comfortable thinking that this last part of the journey will be straightforward and with no worries. Departure time comes and we don’t. The guard comes on the PA. Apparently a member of train crew – namely himself – was on the wrong platform. So a minor mistake is likely to ruin today’s excellent timekeeping.
When we do get underway it is far from the usual whoosh out of Waterloo and running is sedate for some minutes with further time lost. Once we get out of the canyon of buildings along the line it is possible to get a data signal and so I can check train running – and eventually identify that for some reason the service from Redhill is running late, so unless we lose a lot of time the connection will hold. We recover a little of the time lost and once at Guildford the late running train to Reading is confirmed.
Home is reached ten minutes or so late – but much better than my excursion a couple of months ago.
Costs / Ticket Checks
I was uncertain as to running times for the bus/ferry combination so bought a return ticket to Tilbury (£26.75) and from Tilbury to Southend (£7.65) which would have been cheaper as a single ticket. I could have saved £5.50 on the ferry and the only other item was £4 (concession) on the Pier Railway. The rail expenditure was therefore 18.9p per mile – not quite as cheap as other trips.
The only attempt at a ticket check was on the first train where I stopped the guard to try and buy a ticket – he was not seriously checking tickets. Gates at Southend were open on arrival. At Tilbury Town the gateline was working as it was at Waterloo. Only Guildford station gates refused to work for the ticket and this is a long standing nuisance.
Rolling Stock
165 on GWR service, 444 on Portsmouth line, 357 on the c2c services. 720s were seen on the c2c lines but none presented for travel on the designated services. The 357 fleet started entering service between 1999 and 2002 so most of them are in good condition. The 357 are part of the Electrostar fleet and so comparable to similar units elsewhere on the network. Nothing unusual.
Summary
The day worked well – all objectives achieved and return home almost on time without serious concerns.
