The station building in May 2008

Thorpe-le-Soken railway station is on the Sunshine Coast Line, a branch of the Great Eastern Main Line, in the East of England, serving the village of Thorpe-le-Soken, Essex. It is 65 miles 7 chains (104.7 km) down the line from London Liverpool Street.[1] Its three-letter station code is TLS. To the west the preceding station is Weeley and to the east the following stations are Clacton-on-Sea on the single-stop Clacton branch or Kirby Cross on the branch to Walton-on-the-Naze.

The station was opened by the Tendring Hundred Railway, a subsidiary of the Great Eastern Railway, in 1866. It is currently managed by Greater Anglia, which also operates all trains serving the station.

History

The station was opened with the name Thorpe by the Tendring Hundred Railway, a subsidiary of the Great Eastern Railway, on 28 July 1866 on the Tendring Hundred Extension Railway line. It was renamed Thorpe-le-Soken on 1 March 1900.[2]

It has two platforms forming an island platform that is accessible via a footbridge. There is a clearly visible platform and trackbed on what would be platform 3; this is continuous with the other stations on the Walton branch. One of the double tracks that were originally on the line to Walton has been completely taken up. These tracks and platforms were used until 1982 when trains from London were split at Thorpe le Soken station and 4 cars would go to Walton and 4 to Clacton.[3]

Services

The typical off-peak services pattern is:

Operator Route Rolling stock Frequency
Greater Anglia London Liverpool Street - Stratford - Shenfield - Ingatestone - Chelmsford - Witham - Colchester - Wivenhoe - Thorpe-le-Soken - Clacton-on-Sea Class 720 1x per hour
Greater Anglia Colchester - Colchester Town - Hythe - Wivenhoe - Alresford - Great Bentley - Weeley - Thorpe-le-Soken - Kirby Cross - Frinton-on-Sea - Walton-on-the-Naze Class 720 1x per hour

During peak hours there are some additional services to and from Liverpool Street.

References

  1. ^ "RailRef GE Great Eastern". Archived from the original on 6 January 2013.
  2. ^ Butt, R.V.J., (1995) The Directory of Railway Stations, Yeovil: Patrick Stephens
  3. ^ "GENSHEET:Class 309".

External links

Preceding station National Rail National Rail Following station
Greater Anglia
Sunshine Coast Line
Clacton branch
Greater Anglia
Sunshine Coast Line
Walton branch