c2c restores 12-car services at Basildon after two-year engineering project
Full-length 12 and 10-car trains are once again calling at platform 2 at Basildon station after c2c Railway Limited completed a major programme of engineering works to stabilise the embankment and rebuild the platform.
The operator confirmed the return of longer trains follows an intensive two-year project to remove and redesign a 100-metre section of the platform on the main ticket office side of the station. The work has enabled platform 2 to resume handling longer formations, restoring operational flexibility and increasing capacity for passengers.
The rebuilt platform replaces the original structure installed when Basildon station opened in 1974. With the project now complete, an average of around 30 additional 12 and 10-car trains can once again serve platform 2 each week, helping to ease crowding and improve the reliability of services.
The scheme was delivered in partnership with AmcoGiffen (AMCO) and involved extensive groundworks to stabilise the embankment beneath the platform. This included regrading the embankment, installing an eight-metre-deep sheet pile retaining wall and constructing a new platform supported by 42 screw-piled foundations driven to depths of approximately eight metres.
The first returning 10-car train called at the newly rebuilt platform on Sunday lunchtime, 14 December, coinciding with the timetable change. c2c said the restored platform length will allow it to provide additional capacity for customers travelling through the station each week.
c2c’s Interim Asset & Property Director, Donna Thorpe, said:
“c2c is delighted to have reopened the full length of platform 2 at Basildon station following an essential and extensive programme of removal, stabilising and rebuild works. The platform can once again accommodate our 12 and 10-car trains, providing greater capacity and a potential further 6,500 seats for customers each and every week. I would like to pay special thanks to our partners at AMCO who have worked tirelessly and diligently to complete this complex project, along with the teams at Network Rail, Essex Highways and the wider Procurement, Asset and Operations Teams at c2c, who have supported throughout. Most importantly, I would like to thank our customers and local stakeholders who have remained patient and understanding through what we appreciate has been a lengthy process.”
AMCO said the project not only addressed the condition of the platform itself but also significantly extended the life of the underlying infrastructure.
Tom McGourty, Senior Contracts Manager at AMCO, said:
“AMCO is delighted to have been able to deliver this extensive project with c2c and Network Rail. The previous 50-year-old platform had reached the end of its life and was being supported by an embankment which dated back to 1888. The new stabilised embankment now has a life span of c100 years, with the platform expected to last a minimum of 60 years. The project could not have been successfully completed without all parties working together towards the same shared goal. Partnership really is key!”
Image: C2c