London Tilbury & Southend Railway (1895–1912) The railway through Westcliff (or Melton as it was then known) was opened by the London Tilbury & Southend Railway (LT&SR) when they extended their main line from
Leigh-on-Sea to
Southend in 1856.
Thomas Brassey, one of the original contractors that built the line, had bought up much land around Southend anticipating its growth in the late 19th Century. His son
Lord Brassey had his agents begin planning the Hamlet Estate located west of central Southend. Brassey approached the LT&SR about providing a station in early 1891 but it was not until 1893 that an agreement was reached and the contract for construction let. The name Westcliffe-on-Sea was chosen noting that adjacent station Leigh was renamed Leigh-on-Sea in the same year. The first trains served the new station on 1 July 1897. The station is largely intact today and had two platforms linked by a footbridge. The main station building is on the up (towards London) side and a shelter was provided on the down side. There were no goods facilities provided although a signal box located at the west end of the down platform was provided to break up the long section between Leigh and Southend. A new parcel office was provided in 1904 located on the eastern end of the up platform. During 1910 short lived siding on the down side was provided east of the station. It was never formally commissioned and removed almost immediately.
Midland Railway (1912–1923) In 1912 the
Midland Railway bought the LT&SR on 7 August 1912 so Westcliffe-On-Sea became a
Midland Railway station.
London Midland & Scottish Railway (1923–1948) Following the
Railways Act 1921 the station became the responsibility of the London Midland and Scottish (LMS) Railway from 1 January 1923. Just after
World War II started in September 1939, the passenger service was reduced as a wartime economy measure.
British Railways (1948–1994) Following nationalisation of Britain's railways in 1948, the station transferred under
British Railways to the
London Midland Region. On 20 February 1949, the whole LTS line was transferred to the
Eastern Region, yet despite the organisational changes, the old LTSR still was a distinctive system operated by former LTS and LMS steam locomotives until electrification. During the late 1950s the LTS was being electrified and re-signalled and at Westcliff the platforms lengthened and on 6 November 1961 the signal box was abolished. A full electric timetable started operating in June 1962 which was primarily worked by
Class 302 EMUs. The canopy over the up side entrance was removed in 1964 and a modern ticket and parcels office was provided in 1965 replacing the 1904 structure. The station was renamed
Westcliff on 20 February 1969 although some of the station signage had been altered earlier with the "on sea" being in smaller writing or left out altogether. During 1986/7 the original down platform shelter was replaced by a new building and canopy (but incorporated the original iron columns that supported the roof). The LTS line and Westcliffe station became part of the London and South Eastern sector of British Rail in 1982, and in June 1986 this was rebranded as
Network South East (NSE). With the Conservative government of the early 1990s looking to privatise the railways, the operation of the NSE passenger train service was put under the control of a Train Operating Unit. In 1990 the 1960s entrance building was badly damaged by fire and replaced in 1993.
The Privatisation Era (1994–2025) On privatisation in 1994, infrastructure ownership passed to
Railtrack and
Prism Rail took over operations of the franchise, marketing the route as LTS Rail. Prism Rail were bought out by
National Express in 2000 and in 2002 the line was rebranded as
c2c. Ownership of the infrastructure passed to
Network Rail in 2002. National Express sold the operation of the franchise to
Trenitalia in 2017. The station and all trains serving it are currently operated by
c2c and are operated by
Class 357 and
Class 720/6 EMUs. A more detailed history of the franchises can be found on the
c2c page. Private operation of the London, Tilbury and Southend line by
Trenitalia c2c ceased on 20 July 2025, with the new publicly owned operator
c2c taking over. == Design ==