please empty your brain below
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I used to use this station every work day in London and invariably used the Crosswall entrance as it was then called.I can remember when there were four lines all the way down to Stepney East station (now Limehouse) pre DLR.
Coincidentally I used it for a day out on Tuesday to Southend Central and to use the pier railway.The c2c journeys were frequent and on time a vast improvement when I travelled on it every day.
Dave B | 22.08.24 - 8:49 a.m. | #
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I've just dug out my copy of John Betjeman's book 'London's Historic Railway Stations', published in 1972, and I see that's where the 'delightful hidden old terminus' quote comes from. The photos of the station in the book show it in its pre-1980s redevelopment splendour (along with some 'Exterminate Bankers' grafitti even then).
Alan S | 22.08.24 - 8:53 a.m. | #
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Interesting that in the photo of the far end, they've taped over the 'reet' bit of Street. One has to wonder why... (misspelling maybe?)
RG | 22.08.24 - 9:03 a.m. | #
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I think it's one of those places that has 'one job', get commuters in and out, on that basis it doesn't need many creature comforts.
The ability to change at West Ham to the Jubilee Line has made it far more user friendly and the lack of interchange at Fenchurch Street is now largely irrelevant.
It would have been nice to know it in the steam era and it was strange seeing Class 310s and 317s on the line in later years.
Still Anon | 22.08.24 - 9:16 a.m. | #
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The ending of passenger services on the London and Blackwall was attributed to a change in technology. The principal users were said to be messenger boys on errands between shipping offices in the City and the actual ships in the docks. This was displaced by the advent of the telephone, and the LNER completely withdrew what was still a 15 minute interval service at that time.
Man of Kent | 22.08.24 - 9:23 a.m. | #
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Perhaps I'm reading your Top Tip wrong, but I don't think it's correct. If you enter the station via the Coopers Row / Tower entrance, you have the departures boards as you enter the barriers (as you've stated). You then ascend a flight of stairs to a very small mezzanine style level, which also has 4 departure boards. Only then do you climb the stairs to either Platforms 1/2 or 3/4.
SteveW | 22.08.24 - 9:31 a.m. | #
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Fenchurch Street was never a LNER station. The LT&S was purchased by the Midland Railway in 1912 and was thus grouped into the London Midland and Scottish in 1923.
British Railways soon removed this geographical anomoly and transferred it to the Eastern Region in 1949.
Alan JS | 22.08.24 - 9:41 a.m. | #
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If Fenchurch Street was never an LNER station, then one of the most famous ‘facts’ about the London Monopoly board is incorrect.
diamond geezer | Homepage | 22.08.24 - 9:55 a.m. | #
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According to Wikipedia (would they lie to us?) Fenchurch Street was owned by LNER between 1921 and 1948 so I think you are okay with your "fact".
keith the Kraut | 22.08.24 - 10:12 a.m. | #
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The MWLTs may hold their noses at the C2C brand but it’s done well to survive more than 25 years. So many locals on the line refer to it by its name ie “catch the C2C” rather than “the train”. I think its self-contained nature helps. I don’t think Greater Anglia, Southeastern and so on can claim the same honour. In that respect it’s like the tube, tube lines, DLR and Overground.
There are also some oddities on the line, which I guess are related to its history, like why can you buy a through ticket from Mile End tube station to C2C stations in Essex such as Leigh-on-Sea.
Auntie Susan | 22.08.24 - 10:17 a.m. | #
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The interior is pretty drab, but the upstairs has improved since they removed some shops at the front of the building to allow natural light into the concourse.
Fenchurch Street probably wins an award for the London Terminus with the fewest number of ticket machines. If I remember correctly, there's two in the main building (to the right of the gateline) and one at the Tower Gateway entrance.
Rob | 22.08.24 - 10:28 a.m. | #
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Fenchurch Street was indeed a LNER - and previously GER - station. The LTSR/MR/LMSR tracks began/ended at Gas Factory Junction in Bow and trains between there and Fenchurch Street station travelled over GER/LNER tracks.
Alan S | 22.08.24 - 10:32 a.m. | #
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I moved to London in May 1992. The first time I used - or even entered - Fenchurch Street station was in September 2019. I was really quite struck by what a dowdy dogs breakfast the place is. I haven't been back inside since !
CJS | 22.08.24 - 10:33 a.m. | #
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Used it once whilst on the way back from the Tilbury Ferry. I'd still agree with Betjeman's description of the station. Definitely "hidden", "delightful" if you like the ambiance of the 80s and quite "old" as a result. It's perfectly nice and quiet and ticks all of the boxes of travel necessities.
Bonus are the very outdated TfL bus spider maps near the toilets. The spider map present on the NR neighborhood map is far more up to date ironically enough.
matthieu1221 | 22.08.24 - 11:39 a.m. | #
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It was indeed an LNER station beacuse the London & Blackwall Railway, which built it, was taken over by the Great Eastern Railway, which became part of the LNER in 1923.
The London Tilbury & Southend paid the GER to use the station as its London terminus. (This was not uncommon, the LBSCR paid the SER to use London Bridge, the Midland paid the GNR to use Kings Cross before it built its own station). As the LTS was taken over by the Midland in 1921, it became part of the LMS at the Grouping, but it still had to pay the LNER to use Fenchurch Street, albeit it ran the vast majority of the trains using the station. (Just as Barking is a C2C station, although the majority of trains are run by TfL)
It was only in the 1950s, when it was all British Railways, that the regions were re-organised on geographical lines rather than (former) owners, and the LTS became part of the Eastern Region (likewise the former Southern railway lines in Devon became Western Region, and GWR lines in the Midlands became LMR)
timbo | 22.08.24 - 11:40 a.m. | #
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What a sad, unloved little station!
Cornish Cockney | 22.08.24 - 12:10 p.m. | #
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"[...] the terminus for a few trains from Southend and the grubbier parts of Essex"
"[...] at least that's all the major Essex food groups covered."
You really are a dreadful snob aren't you?
Wilko_J | 22.08.24 - 12:21 p.m. | #
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The one and only time I used Fenchurch Street station was a couple of years ago when I decided to do a day trip to Southend (simply because it was somewhere I'd never been). I remember thinking then how oddly 80s it felt when so many other stations have been updated since.
At the time c2c was launched I seem to remember them saying it stood for 'commitment to customers' but that may have just been a shortlived marketing thing. c2c is probably one of the success stories of rail privatisation as it had a terrible reputation under British Rail, and is now (although regular commuters may feel different) much more reliable with better trains.
Anders | 22.08.24 - 2:26 p.m. | #
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Well I never knew c2c didn't have an actual meaning. I guess you learn something new every day.
Would I also be right in assuming Fenchurch Street is the only major terminus not served directly by a bus service?
All Over 2a | Homepage | 22.08.24 - 2:47 p.m. | #
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Perhaps C2C was City to Coast? that would make more sense? What is the future of the station?
Simon Barnes | 22.08.24 - 5:35 p.m. | #
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I first encountered Fenchurch Street in the mid-70s. As a spotty young teenage trainspotter I managed to be impressed by the (unspecified flavour) soup I bought there from a drinks vending machine. It being a freezing cold winter day may have helped.
Rarely use it now; concurring with other comments, changing at West Ham is far more convenient.
Andrew S | 22.08.24 - 9:40 p.m. | #
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Interesting that c2c, like Chiltern, is held up as one of the more successful privatised operators. I wonder if this is because, like Chiltern, it's largely a self contained network and so there are none of the complications of making multiple operators happy when sorting out the timetables or the underlying infrastructure or whatever.
E | 22.08.24 - 11:37 p.m. | #
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Actually, Fenchurch Street DOES get busy on some weekends... when the GEML is closed for engineering works, and the people of south Essex get in their cars and drive to a c2c station rather than use the replacement bus service (although, as others have remarked, many of these additional passengers change at West Ham).
anon | 23.08.24 - 11:47 p.m. | #
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MoK: this particular erstwhile messenger boy was using Fenchurch St while delivering Bills of Lading to/from Tilbury in the late 60s: no expense claim was complete without such a trip.
Betterbee | 24.08.24 - 12:11 a.m. | #
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Get the timing right and it can be quicker than the District line alternative to travel C2C from Barking to Fenchurch Street, walk to Tower Hill station and continue on the District. C2C trains are certainly a bit more comfortable.
JohnC | 24.08.24 - 12:17 p.m. | #
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I use Fenchurch Street almost every day and it's quicker to get to the Underground than most other London terminals. If you travel in the 4th, 5th or 6th carriages it puts you right next to the steps and then it's just 100 yards to Tower Hill, a five minute walk.
You didn't mention the gnomes at Fenchurch Street station. Google it and then visit it, situated on the north side of the station and visible from platform 4 when a train isn't in.
Paul S | 26.08.24 - 6:07 p.m. | #
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A one-time CEO of C2C told me that it is the only London terminus of which the majority of whose users are female. His explanation was that Essex boys send their girlfriends to work while they stay at home polishing their Sierras.
John Cartledge | Homepage | 30.08.24 - 4:45 a.m. | #
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As a cost-saving measure, BR closed Fenchurch Street after 22.00 on weekdays and all day at weekends, diverting LTS (now c2c) trains into Liverpool Street. The LT Users Committee (now London TravelWatch) received complaints from users who found this confusing, and in 2001 it polled c2c passengers. A clear majority said they'd prefer Fenchurch Street all day, every day, and c2c implemented this change, leaving a handful of very-off-peak trains running to/from Liverpool Street to maintain drivers' route knowledge for use when track work necessitates a diversion. A detailed report on the survey findings and recommendations, called "Which Street for Southend?" (full disclosure : written by me) is available from London TravelWatch.
John Cartledge | Homepage | 30.08.24 - 10:50 a.m. | #
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