Braintree railway station (England)

Braintree railway station is the northern terminus of the Braintree Branch Line in the East of England, serving the town of Braintree, Essex. It is 44 miles 78 chains (72.38 km) down the line from London Liverpool Street via Witham; the preceding station on the route is Braintree Freeport to the south.

Braintree
National Rail
Station entrance as seen in February 2013
General information
LocationBraintree, Braintree
England
Coordinates51°52′31″N 0°33′25″E / 51.87528°N 0.55694°E / 51.87528; 0.55694
Grid referenceTL760227
Managed byGreater Anglia
Platforms1
Other information
Station codeBTR
ClassificationDfT category C2
History
Original companyEastern Counties Railway
Pre-groupingGreat Eastern Railway
Post-groupingLondon and North Eastern Railway
Key dates
2 October 1848 (1848-10-02)Opened as Braintree
22 February 1869Re-sited
19 October 1910Renamed Braintree & Bocking
After 1948Renamed Braintree
Passengers
2018/19Decrease 0.728 million
2019/20Increase 0.730 million
2020/21Decrease 0.175 million
2021/22Increase 0.460 million
2022/23Increase 0.525 million
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Its three-letter station code is BTR. The platform has an operational length for twelve-coach trains. The station is currently managed by Greater Anglia, which also operates all trains serving it.

History

edit
 
Braintree railway station in 1962

There have been two stations at Braintree. The first, which was the northern terminus of the Maldon, Witham & Braintree Railway, opened on 2 October 1848.[1] That station was closed to passengers with the opening of the Bishop's Stortford, Dunmow & Braintree Railway on 22 February 1869,[2] when the old terminus was replaced by a through-station on the new line.[1] It continued as a goods depot until 1964.[citation needed] The new station was named Braintree & Bocking on 19 October 1910, but reverted to its original name of Braintree between 1948 and 1953.[1] The station once featured in many model railway sets as "Braintree & Bocking" was the printed station name in the Airfix railway accessories.[3][4] Passenger services on the route between Braintree and Bishop's Stortford ceased on 3 March 1952.[2]

Services

edit

All services at Braintree are operated by Greater Anglia using Class 720 EMUs.

The typical off-peak service is one train per hour to and from London Liverpool Street via Witham with additional services running to and from station during the peak hours.[5]

On Sundays, services at the station run only as far as Witham.

Preceding station   National Rail Following station
Greater AngliaTerminus
Disused railways
TerminusGreat Eastern Railway

References

edit
  1. ^ a b c Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. p. 42. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508.
  2. ^ a b Awdry, Christopher (1990). Encyclopaedia of British Railway Companies. London: Guild Publishing. p. 118. CN 8983.
  3. ^ Rail (671). 1 June 2011. {{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)[full citation needed]
  4. ^ Branch Lines Around Witham and Kelvedon Archived 10 August 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ Table 11 National Rail timetable, December 2023

Further reading

edit
  • Peter Paye (2010). Bishop's Stortford, Dunmow and Braintree Branch. Oakwood Press. ISBN 978-0-85361-708-2.
edit