Southend-on-Sea Borough Council - Infrastructure
Connections By Road
Southend has two main roads, the A127 and A13, which provide direct links to London. The journey time on both roads is very similar, and it takes around 1 hour 15 mins to reach central London.
Both roads can also be used to access the M25 motorway in under an hour, which in turn provides links across the national motorway network.
Distance to Birmingham: Up to 150 miles (Up to 3 hours)
Distance to Bristol: Up to 200 miles (Up to 4 hours)
Distance to Leeds: Up to 300 miles (Up to 4 hours)
Distance to Leicester: Up to 150 miles (Up to 3 hours)
Distance to Liverpool: Up to 300 miles (Up to 5 hours)
Distance to Manchester: Up to 300 miles (Up to 5 hours)
Distance to Newcastle: Up to 300 miles (Up to 6 hours)
Distance to Sheffield: Up to 200 miles (Up to 4 hours)
Distance to Oxford: Up to 150 miles (Up to 2.5 hours)
Distance to Cambridge: Up to 75 miles (Up to 1.5 hour)
Connections By Rail
Southend is serviced by two railway lines. From central Southend stations, journeys to London take under an hour, on either line. Southend-on-Sea boasts nine railway stations, providing good connectivity to other towns in Essex and to London.
The Fenchurch Street line runs the width of the borough, linking Shoeburyness in the East to Leigh-on-Sea in the West, and along the Thames Gateway to London.
The Liverpool Street line heads out through the North of the borough, linking to Rochford and Rayleigh to Shenfield, (providing links around East Anglia), and then Stratford for the London Olympics stadium and London.
Connections By Air
Southend Airport
From Southend, it is possible to get to Gatwick, Stansted, City and Heathrow in under 1hour and 45mins, giving businesses a huge choice for air travel.
In addition to being close to all three major London international airports, Southend has its own airport on the Southend/Rochford border. London Southend airport operates passenger flights but can also offer corporate charters and shuttles, air taxis, helicopters, private aircraft and freight. After the construction of the new airport train terminal, trains will be able to travel from the airport to London in under 50 minutes.
Closest Airport: Stansted AirportDistance to London Gatwick: Up to 75 miles (Up to 1.5 hour)
Distance to London Stansted: Up to 50 miles (Up to 1.5 hour)
Connections By Freight Ports
Southend is less than 40 minutes away from the principal London port, the Port of Tilbury, via the A13 road. This proximity means that Southend is ideally situated for sea freight. Similarly, as the principal port for London, it is just as easy to transport freight to London in under an hour from Tilbury.
Southend is also close to the Port of Medway on the South of the River Thames, so businesses in Southend have a choice of ports to use when conducting their business.
Distance to Medway: Up to 50 miles (Up to 1.5 hour)
Broadband / ICT Facilities
Broadband facilities are extensive throughout the borough, and there are a number of different services providers in Southend.
