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Braintree railway station is the
northern terminus of the Braintree Branch Line in the East of
England, serving the town of Braintree, Essex. It is 44 miles
78 chains (72.38 km) down the line from London Liverpool Street
via Witham; the preceding station on the route is Braintree
Freeport to the south.
Its three-letter station code is BTR. The platform has an
operational length for twelve-coach trains. The station is
currently managed by Greater Anglia, which also operates all
trains serving it.
There have been two stations at Braintree. The first, which was
the northern terminus of the Maldon, Witham & Braintree Railway,
opened on 2 October 1848. That station was closed to passengers
with the opening of the Bishop's Stortford, Dunmow & Braintree
Railway on 22 February 1869, when the old terminus was replaced
by a through-station on the new line. It continued as a goods
depot until 1964. The new station was named Braintree & Bocking
on 19 October 1910, but reverted to its original name of
Braintree between 1948 and 1953. The station once featured in
many model railway sets as "Braintree & Bocking" was the printed
station name in the Airfix railway accessories. Passenger
services on the route between Braintree and Bishop's Stortford
ceased on 3 March 1952.
The typical off-peak service is of one train per hour to Witham,
where Monday-Saturday services continue onto the Great Eastern
Main Line for London Liverpool Street. On Sundays services
terminate at Witham and passengers travelling on towards London
must change for a connecting train.
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