Hythe railway station in

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

is on the Sunshine Coast Line, a branch of the

Great Eastern Main Line The Great Eastern Main Line (GEML, sometimes referred to as the East Anglia Main Line) is a major railway line on the British railway system which connects Liverpool Street station in central London with destinations in east London and t ...

in the

East of England East is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sunrise, Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact ...

, serving Hythe and other eastern areas of

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in northeastern Essex, England. It is the second-largest settlement in the county, with a population of 130,245 at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 Census. The demonym is ''Colcestrian''. Colchester occupies the ...

. It is down the line from London Liverpool Street. Its three-letter station code is HYH. The station was opened in 1847 by the Colchester, Stour Valley, Sudbury & Halstead Railway, then part of the

Eastern Union Railway The Eastern Union Railway (EUR) was an English railway company, at first built from Colchester to Ipswich; it opened in 1846. It was proposed when the earlier Eastern Counties Railway failed to make its promised line from Colchester to Norwich. T ...

, initially for goods only and then in 1863 for passenger services. It is currently managed by

Abellio Greater Anglia Greater Anglia (legal name Transport UK East Anglia Limited) is a British train operating company owned as a joint venture by Transport UK Group and Mitsui & Co. It operates the East Anglia franchise, providing the commuter and inter-city se ...

, which also operates all trains serving the station. To the west of the station is a triangle of lines, with three junctions. The lines lead to either or stations; the junctions are known as Hythe Junction, East Gates Junction (at the northern extremity of the triangle) and Colne Junction (at the western extremity). To the east the next station along the line is .

History

A line to Hythe Quay was opened on 1 April 1847 by the Colchester, Stour Valley, Sudbury & Halstead Railway, which was worked by the

(EUR) and was a freight-only line. Hythe station was opened to passenger services on 8 May 1863 by the Tendring Hundred Railway, which opened to and was operated by the

Great Eastern Railway The Great Eastern Railway (GER) was a pre-grouping British railway company, whose main line linked London Liverpool Street to Norwich and which had other lines through East Anglia. The company was grouped into the London and North Eastern R ...

from the outset. There are still sidings present at Hythe but they are no longer in use, and there was once a short branch to Hythe quay which crossed the River Colne adjacent to the station by a small iron bridge. There is no evidence today of the former quayside tracks, but aerial photograph sites clearly show the exact alignments. There was also a spur from the station to Colchester Gas Works, which ran along the street to Hythe quay. This became redundant in 1973 when the United Kingdom switched from town gas to natural gas. Little trace now remains of this, except a small section of trackbed at Hythe, and the piers of the bridge (removed around 2007) over the River Colne. Hythe station underwent major renovation in 2008 and 2009, including the extension of the platforms to accommodate 12-coach train sets, the demolition of the original station building, and the dismantling of the disused coal depot. The north siding was also removed, as was the pointwork and a short section of track leading to the south sidings. The station building remained until its demolition in June 2009 but had not been used for many years. Consequently, it had been subjected to vandalism. The rebuilt station has a bright image and modern facilities incorporating a ticket-machine on the northbound platform 1. It also now accommodates longer trains to and from London Liverpool Street during peak times with no need to change at Colchester. The station also has car-parking facilities providing short- and long-term parking for commuters and the wider public; these are adjacent to the London-bound platform with easy access to the station. Other facilities include a café and car-wash.

Services

All services at Hythe are operated by

Greater Anglia Greater Anglia (legal name Transport UK East Anglia Limited) is a British train operating company owned as a joint venture by Transport UK Group and Mitsui & Co. It operates the East Anglia franchise, providing the commuter and inter-city se ...

using EMUs. The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is: * 1 tph to London Liverpool Street * 1 tph to via * 1 tph to * 1 tph to Additional services call at the station during the peak hours. On Sundays, the services between Colchester and Walton-on-the-Naze do not run.

References

External links

{{Railway stations served by Abellio Greater Anglia 1849 establishments in England Railway stations in Essex DfT Category F2 stations Former Great Eastern Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1863 Railway stations served by Greater Anglia Buildings and structures in Colchester (town) Transport in Colchester