Pitsea station opened on 1 July 1855 as the London, Tilbury and Southend railway was extended eastwards. It is considerably older than Basildon station and became one of the most important influences on Pitsea's later growth.
An earlier proposal had placed a station nearer Vange, but the final station was constructed at Pitsea after land adjoining Pitsea Hall was acquired. The railway therefore physically cut through part of the old estate landscape.
The original route to London ran by way of Tilbury. A more direct railway from Barking through Upminster and Laindon opened to Pitsea in 1888. Pitsea became a junction, and a rebuilt station with four platforms served the converging routes. Historic photographs show “Pitsea Junction” on station nameboards.
Improved rail connections helped turn Pitsea from a small rural parish into a growing residential settlement. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries railway access made land in this part of Essex more attractive to people moving out from London, contributing to the plotland development that changed the district.
Unlike many lost Pitsea landmarks, the railway remains part of everyday life. The modern station is not unchanged from 1855, but the location still represents one of the major turning points in the history of the town.