THE frequency of c2c rail services in Thurrock is to be cut as the operating company responds to the impact of coronavirus and the lockdown.

Full details of service changes will be announced shortly but a spokesperson has confirmed: "We are making reductions because of staff unavailability, combined with the fall in passenger numbers we've seen in the past fortnight.

"We're focusing our capacity on the services that are most popular currently - morning services, particularly the earliest ones; early afternoons (more popular than post-18.00 nowadays); and school trains.

"Off-peak there will be an hourly service on both the Rainham and Tilbury lines, so one train an hour for most Thurrock stations off-peak but two trains an hour from Grays.

"We will review and add additional services as passenger demand returns, and staff availability allows."