Trains to Thorpe-le-Soken

Situated on the wonderfully-named Sunshine Coast Line, Thorpe-le-Soken station in Essex has hourly eastbound trains to Colchester and London Liverpool Street and hourly westbound trains to Clacton-on-Sea and Walton-on-the-Naze, with more trains to and from London at peak times. The usual journey time to London Liverpool Street is around one and a half hours and it's about 35 minutes to Colchester. Trains first came to Thorpe-le-Soken in 1866, but the current station buildings don't date back to that time. Unusually, the current ticket office is in the middle of the platform island along with a 1930's signal box and passenger shelter. The centre of the village, with a few shops, pubs and takeaways is about a mile north of the station. A few miles further to the north east are the tidal creeks, sand flats and salt marshes of Hamford Water National Nature Reserve, globally important due to range of wildlife it supports.