Thurrock Council and rail company c2c have promised a one-year programme to improve rail services.

Promised changes are to include the new c2c Smart card covering bus travel in Thurrock, as well as a new station and shuttle bus service at Stanford-le-Hope.

Grays and will get a new station and pedestrian rail crossing, and Purfleet will get a new station. The level crossings at Purfleet and East Tilbury will also be replaced.

The council and the company will invest across Thurrock - as well as seeking funds from other sources.

The investment has been written down in a Memorandum of Agreement.

Cllr John Kent, Leader of Thurrock Council, said: “This agreement is really good news for everyone. We haven’t just left things for a year, we have been doing a great deal of preparatory work, but now we can ensure things start moving forward.”

“The idea of a smart card that works on c2c as well as Thurrock bus journeys is a tremendous plan and I want to see us meeting with all the public transport providers to take that forward as soon as possible.”

Julian Drury, Managing Director of c2c, added: “We’re clear what we want to achieve over the coming years and we’re determined to deliver real improvements for local passengers. We have already worked together to establish travel plans for every station in the borough.”