The Station
The station comprises two mainline platforms (Platform 2 for Southend and 3 for London) and two branch line bay platforms (Platforms 1 and 4) at the Southend/Southminster end of the station. At the London end of the station there was once a goods yard and turntable for steam locomotives; a couple of sidings remain here for storing engineering vehicles or failed trains, but much of the railway land here is now in use as a car park for rail passengers.
The signal box that was once located at the end of platforms 3 and 4, before the bridge crossing Wickford High Street, was demolished in the early 1990s following the introduction of new signalling controlled from Liverpool Street. The upper floor of the original Great Eastern Railway station buildings on platforms 1 and 2 were destroyed by fire in the late 1990s due to human error; however the ground floor (including the ticket office, waiting room and staff accommodation) was saved and remains in use.
Read more about this topic: Wickford Railway Station
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