Here is a letter published in the Echo this week:

"The sorry story of Basildon town being without a rail station, began in the early 50s with its road to industrial might with manufacturing firms such as Ford, Yardley and Marconi providing jobs for many of its residents.

"Thus, it all began when Basildon moved from a working class neighbourhood to a middle class one in the 60s and 70s and when house prices were still comparatively cheap. 

"These new incumbents then started working in London, not Basildon. So a new rail station was quickly built despite years of Basildon Development Corporation saying that Basildon was to be a self-contained district and there was no need for anyone to work outside the district. But then quite a bit changed when Margaret Thatcher introduced the ‘right to buy’ and the middle classes moved in.

"I say ‘quickly built’ because no attention was given to a future population of Basildon – in the days when we could still see green fields, consequently the new station consisted of a two-carriage platform, a ticket office with very little infrastructure. That would have to suit those commuters wishing to escape daily to London.

"Now that we know that the population is approaching 200,000, very little has been done to improve this essential station that was to be improved by a sixth master plan. There have been so many I have almost forgotten which one was which.

"So Ben Murdoch is right as quoted in Sophie England’s 'Longer trains cancelled over safety fears', Echo Wednesday September 21, 2022, when he says 'I have been commuting for well over a decade now from Basildon train station and it is in desperate need of an overhaul'.

"In my view it needs demolishing and redesigning all over again. I can remember a recent master plan that called for the station to be incorporated within a new town centre redevelopment.

"If our politicians cannot decide what kind of town centre we need in Basildon in the future, then as commuters are indeed bracing ourselves for the nightmare that is due to come."

Vin Harrop

Rosslyn Road, Billericay