These trains continued to work until the 1970s, by which time only two were in service, and the railway closed in 1978, due to its poor state and the cost of repairs.

Eight years later, the railway was relaid to 3 ft (914 mm) gauge, and two diesel trains were purchased to operate the service.

In 2020, Southend Council decided to upgrade the rolling stock again, and two battery-electric trains were purchased from Severn Lamb.

The tramway closed in 1881 due to the poor state of the track, and the problems of the horses putting their hooves through holes in the planks.

The compound-wound generator was belt driven from a Davey, Paxman & Co 25 hp (19 kW) steam engine with a locomotive-type boiler.

Current collection was from a centre rail consisting of a steel channel and copper strip mounted on petticoat insulators, with a carbon brush pickup on the motor cars.

In 1890, the 1+1⁄4 miles (2.0 km) single track was completed and two trailer cars acquired to form a three-car train.

However, in 1902, Southend Corporation established its own generating station in London Road and the pier plant became redundant and was removed.

There were also two double-ended single cars for use in the winter, which had 18 hp (13 kW) motors and seating for 30 passengers, some of it enclosed but some of it open.

In 1919, the original track, now twenty years old, needed replacement, so new running and conductor rails were laid throughout the pier.

The following year these loops were joined up to form a double track railway 93 chains, (2,046 yd (1,871 m)) long, along the length of the pier.

It was taken over by the Royal Navy on 9 September 1939, and renamed HMS Leigh, becoming an assembly point for convoys with anti-aircraft guns on the pier head.

Service personnel included many who were sick or wounded, returning from ships, and some of the carriages were adapted to carry men in stretchers.

[10] Masters of passing merchant ships used to complain the trains set off the acoustic aircraft early warning devices fitted to their vessels.

[11] It was originally intended that this would replace car 29, which had been converted to a flat truck with cab in 1902, but both continued to operate on the railway.

The second was to replace the railway with an Aerobus system, with vehicles running along a cable suspended from towers built alongside the existing pier, but the cost was prohibitive.

This was expected to take 18 months to complete, and to cost £1.3 million, but in March 1975, the council decided to use direct labour and to spend £3,582,000 over 15 years to upgrade the pier.

[15] Later in 1975, they took delivery of a 6.6 ton hydraulic crane, manufactured by Atlas/PAPE, which was floated down the River Thames from Tilbury on a barge.

The electrical equipment was bought by the East Anglian Transport Museum, based at Carlton Colville near Lowestoft.

The hydraulic crane and Wickham trolley went to the Brecon Mountain Railway, where they were regauaged to 1 ft 11+1⁄2 in (597 mm) and are used by the engineering department.

[20] Two new diesel trains were built by Severn Lamb and introduced on a simplified line comprising a single track with a passing loop and twin-track terminal stations.

[31] The new trains were formally unveilled by Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall on 1 March 2022, while they were visiting the town to award it city status.

[36] On 6 October 2024, one of the battery electric trains was damaged when it failed to stop before hitting the buffers at the Pier Head station.

[42][43] A twin-track island platform is provided at each terminus, and there is a passing loop in mid-pier, but otherwise the line is single tracked.

[44] Following the closure of the railway in 1978, the old workshops, located below the shore station, were used to store a growing collection of memorabilia, including pictures and rolling stock.

[45] Some of the 1949 stock cars escaped the scrapyard in 1982, and were stored at Tal-y-Cafn goods yard, to become part of the proposed North Wales Tramway Museum near Colwyn Bay.

Subsequently, the driving cabin and the flat bed of car 29 were removed, and the restored bodywork was fitted to the chassis to create a complete vehicle.

This work was eventually carried out by Alan Keef Ltd in 2018, and the vehicle is displayed inside a glass case at Chelmsford Museum.

Ownership was transferred to the Volk's Electric Railway Association, which moved it to the South Downs Heritage Centre at Hassocks, where it was expected to be part of a transport display.

Since then, plans have been drawn up to return it to operational service, and it is probable that the centre two bays will be adapted to take passengers in wheelchairs.