Beaulieu Park railway station

For the station in Hampshire, see Beaulieu Road railway station. For the station in the Highlands, see Beauly railway station.
Beaulieu Park
Station entrance
General information
LocationBoreham, City of Chelmsford,
England
Coordinates51°45′27″N 0°31′07″E / 51.7574°N 0.5187°E / 51.7574; 0.5187
Managed byGreater Anglia
Platforms3
Other information
Station codeBPA
Key dates
March 2023Construction started
26 October 2025Opened
Location

Beaulieu Park railway station (/ˈbjuːli/ ⓘ BEW-lee) is on the Great Eastern Main Line (GEML) in the East of England. It serves the new Beaulieu Park housing development in Boreham, approximately 3 miles (5 km) to the north-east of Chelmsford, Essex. The station is between Chelmsford to the west and Hatfield Peverel to the east.

The station was suggested as early as the 1980s, but construction work did not start until 2023. It opened on 26 October 2025, the first new station on the GEML in 100 years. It is managed by Greater Anglia, which also operates all trains serving the station.

History

Plans for Chelmsford's second station were rumoured in the 1990s,[1] although passengers have been waiting for it since the 1980s.[2] The new station was part of Chelmsford's Local Plan in 2003; however, the Local Plan was withdrawn that year and the station re-entered the planning stage five years later. The planning application was then submitted in 2010.[1]

In September 2013, it was reported that the station would cost £53 million.[3] In March 2014, Countryside, a UK housebuilding company, agreed to fund the railway station and 3,600 new homes north-east of Chelmsford.[4] In October 2013, the leader of Braintree Council believed that the station "could open by 2019",[5] though this never came to fruition.[1]

In 2015, an agreement was signed between Essex County Council, Chelmsford City Council, Network Rail (which owns and maintains Great Britain's railway network) and Countryside to work on the delivery of the new station.[1] In August 2019, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sajid Javid, agreed to allocate £218 million from the Housing Infrastructure Fund for the new station and associated road improvements, with the aim of building up to 14,000 new homes.[6] Originally planned for 2026, the station opened on 26 October 2025.[7] It is the first station on the Great Eastern Main Line in over 100 years.[8]

This station was built as part of Chelmsford's housing development.[9] It also serves Springfield and Boreham, easing pressure at Chelmsford's main station.[10][6]

As part of Project Oval, contactless payments to and from the station was originally planned to be launched from 14 December 2025.[11] However, this has been delayed to 2026, alongside 19 other Greater Anglia stations, due to issues found during testing.[12]

Construction

Essex County Council agreed on the next stage of the planning of Beaulieu Park station in December 2021.[13] Plans were approved in June 2022 after Essex County Council agreed on the design and layout of the station.[14] After J. Murphy & Sons was awarded the first contract in January 2023,[9] construction began in March.[2] In September 2023, Murphy was awarded the second of two construction contracts from Network Rail.[15]

It opened ahead of schedule on 26 October 2025, at a cost of £175 million.[8] The station was originally planned to open at the end of 2025[8] or 2026.[14] Several bus routes were extended to serve the new station.[16] As part of constructing the new station, Murphy has laid 5,156 m (3.2 miles) of new rail, reused 1,768 m (1.1 miles) of rail, 14 new railway signals and 36.5 km (22.7 miles) of new overhead line equipment (OLE).[9]

On 27 October 2025, Sir James Cleverly, MP, and Lord Peter Hendy, the Minister of State for Rail, officially opened the station.[17]

Design

The station has accessible toilets, waiting rooms and two footbridges (of which one has step-free access) connecting three 250 m (820 ft) platforms. The layout allows fast trains to use the central loop to overtake the stopping service.[9][18] There is room for around 800 cars in two separate car parks, with 500 spaces for bicycles and a bus interchange.[18]

The main station building has a brick-clad structure, underneath a larch glulam canopy supported on independent pillars.[18] The National Rail logo hangs from the canopy and the station's name is in large metal lettering. The ticket hall has free-standing retail units,[18] a ticket gate line and a row of ticket machines, but does not have a ticket office.[19]

Services

All services at Beaulieu Park are operated by Greater Anglia, using Class 720 electric multiple units.

The typical off-peak service in trains per hour (tph) is:[20]

Additional services, including trains to and from Clacton-on-Sea and Braintree, call at the station during peak hours.[20][21] The station is located 40 minutes from London.[8]

Preceding station National Rail Following station
Greater Anglia

References

  1. ^ a b c d "All aboard at last!". City Life. Retrieved 25 October 2025.
  2. ^ a b "Beaulieu: Work starts on second Chelmsford railway station". BBC News. 18 March 2023. Archived from the original on 1 August 2025. Retrieved 6 July 2025.
  3. ^ "£53m rail station at Beaulieu is on track". Chelmsford Weekly News. 18 September 2013. Plans for the development were given the go-ahead in November last year
  4. ^ "Beaulieu deal for new Chelmsford schools and railway station agreed". BBC News. 11 March 2014. Archived from the original on 1 October 2025. Retrieved 15 July 2025.
  5. ^ "Fears for Braintree Loop and Hatfield Peverel train station". Braintree and Witham Times. 2 October 2013. Archived from the original on 1 October 2025. Retrieved 15 July 2025.
  6. ^ a b "£600 million boost for housing". GOV.UK. HM Treasury & Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government. 17 August 2019. Archived from the original on 1 October 2025. Retrieved 15 July 2025.
  7. ^ Groves, Halle (9 September 2025). "Beaulieu Park station: Date confirmed for anticipated launch". Maldon and Burnham Standard. Retrieved 9 September 2025.
  8. ^ a b c d "Beaulieu Park railway station in Essex welcomes first passengers". BBC News. 26 October 2025. Retrieved 4 November 2025.
  9. ^ a b c d "Beaulieu Park station opens to support Chelmsford housing development". Railway Gazette International. Retrieved 7 November 2025.
  10. ^ "New station is on track for Beaulieu development". The Enquirer. 10 December 2015. Archived from the original on 26 April 2016.
  11. ^ "Simpler train travel to London airports as tap-in, tap-out expanded across south-east England". GOV.UK. 17 November 2025.
  12. ^ "Stansted Airport contactless pay-as-you-go rail fare payment delayed". Railway Gazette International. Retrieved 13 December 2025.
  13. ^ "Chelmsford's Beaulieu Park railway station plans move a step closer". BBC News. 22 December 2021. Archived from the original on 1 October 2025. Retrieved 26 October 2025.
  14. ^ a b Meyler, Piers (28 June 2022). "New Chelmsford train station set to open in 2026 as plans approved". Essex Live. Archived from the original on 1 October 2025. Retrieved 15 July 2025.
  15. ^ Atkins, Matt (15 September 2023). "Network Rail awards main construction contract for Beaulieu Park station". Rail UK. Archived from the original on 9 September 2025. Retrieved 26 October 2025.
  16. ^ Lee, Matt (26 October 2025). "Locals feel 'lucky to watch history being made' as new railway station opens". Essex Live. Retrieved 26 October 2025.
  17. ^ "Beaulieu Park station opens its doors to passengers | Essex County Council". Essex.gov.uk. Retrieved 28 October 2025.
  18. ^ a b c d Fenner, David (9 August 2024). "Beaulieu Park Station". Rail Engineer. Archived from the original on 5 August 2025. Retrieved 30 October 2025.
  19. ^ Adams, Lewis (21 December 2023). "Work at new Beaulieu Park station hit 'critical milestone'". BBC News. Archived from the original on 4 January 2024. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
  20. ^ a b "Timetable 02: Ipswich, Clacton, Colchester and Braintree to London Liverpool Street". Greater Anglia. Retrieved 28 October 2025.
  21. ^ "Beaulieu Park". Greater Anglia. Archived from the original on 1 October 2025. Retrieved 20 September 2025.
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