Grays growth

High Street underpass

The High Street underpass will be a new pedestrian walkway under the railway line, replacing the current rail crossing with its bridge and barriers. This will make it much easier for people to walk along the High Street between north and south, bringing a big boost for Grays town centre.

There will also be major improvements on either side of the crossing, including town centre areas and the railway station.

What is involved

Planned improvements include:

  • new public squares to the north and south of the underpass, which will connect with the station to make the town more welcoming for people who arrive by train

  • new shops, cafés and restaurants around the public squares, which will make the area more attractive for residents, commuters, visitors and students

£10.8million of Local Growth funding was awarded by the South East Local Enterprise Partnership (SELEP) for the underpass and public squares.

What's happening now

In June 2021, together with Network Rail, we completed stage 3 of an 8-stage governance for railway investment projects (GRIP) process after establishing the foundations to drive forward.

We have worked with Network Rail and c2c on designs for the underpass and the areas around it. An artist's illustrations of the new walkway and spaces at either end are shown below.