Billericay & the railway

Many of the residents and visitors to Billericay utilise the train to/from London and Southend Victoria. However, it wasn't an easy process adding a railway line through our town.

Billericay has Rev. J.H Harris for our town having a railway station and line put through the town as he was the man who helped persuad the Great Eastern Railway Company to put Billericay on the route through from Shenfiled to Southend Victoria.

The engineers who worked on the line and creating the station must be praised for the rather difficult terrain imposed by our town. The High Street alone stands 315 feet above sea level and railiways naturally work best over flat ground. As many of you will know, the station sits low down in relation to the high street and trains enter from Southend under numerous bridges to get to the station.

In 1884 once the digging has been compeltedthrough the hillside, the metal track had started being laid and on 19 November 1888 the double track section from Shenfiled to Wickford was opened for good traffic. 

Electrification of the Billericay line

In 1954, Billericay and the line was fitted with electrical power lines to run the newer trains as more and more passengers ventured into London and further afield in a bid to widen their horizons. 

Billericay Railway Station Re-Vamp (2011)

In July 2011 refurbishment work was approved by railway boses on Billericay station to help improve ticketing facilities and access as part of the National Station Improvement program. 

The plans for the new station included a large glass frontage and an expanded ticket office within the entrance. The new building was opened in February 2012. 

Information sourced from billericayhistory.org.uk.