Basildon
The eastbound platform at Basildon station, Essex, seen from 357020 from Shoeburyness to London Liverpool Street (diverted from Fenchurch Street) departing on 13th October 2019. When the New Town of Basildon was being planned and built in the late 50s/early 60s, and despite the fact that the ex-LTSR main line passed right by its main shopping centre, in 1961 the General Manager of BR Eastern Region made the astonishing statement that it was 'not worthwhile' to build a station and that the townsfolk could easily use either Laindon or Pitsea stations and continue to Basildon by bus, which is exactly what they had to do. Naturally, this met with protests which fell on deaf ears for several years but eventually Basildon station did materialise and was opened on 25th November 1974, the station that the town should have had some 15 years earlier.
Location: Basildon
Original line: Barking, Upminster and Pitsea Line (London, Tilbury and Southend Railway)
Photographer: David Bosher
Contact photographer: David Bosher
Photosets: English stations, National and Heritage Lines (excluding London) 1979-2023
Date: 13/10/2019
Image number: 71727
Other photographs of Basildon on RailScot
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