Facilities at the station include a partially sheltered bicycle storage rack and a car park.

Following the successful refurbishment of Benfleet railway station, c2c implemented a similar project at Southend Central.

The work cost £460,000 and was jointly funded by c2c and Southend Borough Council.

It involved the complete refurbishment of the ticket office and toilets and the construction of a new forecourt on the north side of the station (leading to platform 2) opposite the University of Essex Southend campus, with new steps and handrails on both sides of the canopy, and a new glass roof and lighting over the bicycle parking area.

When the London Underground's District line operated a seasonal non-stop excursion train service between 1910 and 1939 through to the Southend area, Southend Central was the second station to be called at after departing Upminster.