Southend Pier and Railway — Attraction in England

Southend Pier – Lucky I Wasn’t Injured… and It Could Be Worse for Others ★★★★☆ (3.6/5 Overall – Rounded to 4 Stars)

I’ve visited Southend Pier four or five times and overall I’d say it’s a solid pier calm, scenic, and a good place to relax. I’m giving it 4 stars, but my last visit raised some serious safety concerns that need to be taken seriously. Like my food reviews, I’ll break it down by section.

★ Staff – ★★★★☆ (4/5) Staff are generally friendly and happy to chat or help if you ask. But when I got an unexpected electric shock from the exit gate, the response was poor. No first aid, no check to see if I was okay just a casual “yeah, it’s happened before.” That alone drops the score.

★ Facilities & Amenities – ★★★★★ (4.5/5) This is where the pier shines. It’s not packed with tacky attractions just a peaceful walk, fishing spots, and the lovely train (which most piers don’t have). Toilets were clean and it all feels well-kept. Sometimes simple is best, and this pier gets that right.

★ Health & Safety / Security – ★★☆☆☆ (2/5) This is the big issue. I walked the pier and when I got to the far end, the exit gate gave me a violent electric shock. I think it was static, but it wasn’t mild it was strong, painful, and completely unexpected. Made me jerk and thank god no side affects 24hrs on now as I write this post 19th June 6:15PM.

There were no warning signs, no insulation, nothing to indicate any danger. I’m lucky I don’t have a pacemaker, heart issue or medical condition but what if I did? What if it was a child?

The staff knew it’s happened before and didn’t fix it. Or the Pier haven’t put in appropriate safety measures to prevent it! That’s unacceptable. And no one even checked on me after.

There’s also still a crashed train on the pier from last October, left visible and unrepaired. Before that, reports say passengers were stuck when the train doors wouldn’t open. Add to that the lack of visible CCTV, low staffing, and almost no safeguards in place if someone was in distress and it all paints a worrying picture.

★ Cost & Value for Money – ★★★★☆ (4/5) Prices are fair. The train and walk fees are reasonable, concessions are available, and food/drink prices aren’t bad (£4 for a hot chocolate is pretty standard these days). As long as you don’t go overboard, you’ll find decent value here.

Final Rating Breakdown: • Staff: 4/5 • Facilities & Amenities: 4.5/5 • Health & Safety / Security: 2/5 • Cost & Value: 4/5

★ Total Score: 14.5 out of 20 ★ Average Score: 3.6 → Rounded to ★★★★☆ (4 stars)

Conclusion: Southend Pier has charm peaceful, scenic, and refreshingly simple. But none of that excuses dangerous safety issues. An electric shock from a known faulty gate? That’s not just unfortunate, it’s dangerous. I’m lucky I wasn’t injured others might not be. Add in the ignored train crash, past incidents, and lack of oversight, and it’s clear safety needs to be taken more seriously.

I like this pier, but I really hope they fix these problems before something...

Southend-on-Sea is the closest major beach town from London, especially when you're travelling from East London (Underground to West Ham or Barking, then 1 hour by train in the direction of Shoeburyness). Southend offers a nice alternative to the glitzier, but also gaudier and much more crowded Brighton - and if you just want to spend a few hours on a relatively quiet strip of beach (stony though) near the North Sea, I can safely recommend it. In the last four years it has become my habit to bookend trips to London by going to Southend and walking the 1.34 mile Southend Pier, the longest such pier in the world.

The pier itself is also much more quiet than the one in Brighton . Except for a really nice café with outside seating, there are just a few small food stalls here, without the cheap amusements, casinos and carnival. It is truly a pier that you walk along to soak in the maritime atmosphere, and in good weather it offers splendid views. And if you're too lazy to walk, you can always take the short tram ride at half-hour intervals (during the summer, price for an adult is UKP 5.20 for a "return ticket", or the walk & ride option for 4.70). Entry to the pier without the tram ride will cost you UKP 2. To give you an estimate, it usually takes me 25-27 minutes to reach the end of the pier without stopping and with no children to slow me down (If you're with kids, expect 35 minutes at least).

The pier and its view have always reminded me of "Shell Beach" in the movie Dark City. I especially like the café, which offers small cakes, scones and sandwiches and a modest range of (non-alcoholic) drinks. From its elevated terrace you have a nice view onto the pier. In rainy or extremely weather there are enough seats inside.

There is a lifeboat station which includes a teeny, tiny museum and a small gift shop. Sitting options to relax, unwind and enjoy the view are plentiful. The pier is in good shape, frequent repairs to the wooden surface are evident from the varying color of the planks.

Note that at ebbtide you have to walk about a mile on the pier to even reach...

Great way to spend an hour... Not much to do on the pier though, just the view, no arcades or fair attractions just small pop ups that are very expensive for a captive customer base.

I'd suggest taking your own snacks and drinks !!

The little railway was ok we paid for the train both ways £5.60 each but we decided to walk the mile and a quarter back.

Very Courteous and friendly staff at the front of the pier... Easy to purchase tickets ect.

However.... 🤨

We went to the shack where Jamie Oliver filmed his Jamie and Jimmy's show

As we were talking a few quick pics walking through "with no one else in the shop"... we were asked mid photo (quite abruptly) what we wanted... By the girl serving .. I asked politely for a hot choc please

we were again quite sternly told to move down to the till first even though no one else was in the shop or needed serving and we were only a few feet away!!

We moved down to the till £2.80 for a not very warm hot chocolate in a take away cup with no pleasantries or appreciation for the business we were giving them.

Then we were told to go outside and collect the drink from a window at the side.

Just some friendly advice for the girl behind the counter

Number 1 if you work in a shack previously used by a celebrity for a show... Your customers will want to take a picture occasionally.

Number 2 it costs nothing to be polite and courteous to your customers especially at the prices your charging .... remember they are paying...