Chatham Main Line

Chatham Main Line
Overview
Type	Commuter rail, Suburban rail
System	National Rail
Status	Operational
Locale	Greater London South East England
Termini	London Victoria Ramsgate Dover Priory
Operation
Owner	Network Rail
Operator(s)	Southeastern
Rolling stock	Class 375 "Electrostar" Class 395 "Javelin" Class 465 "Networker" Class 466 "Networker"
Technical
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	750 V DC third rail
Operating speed	145 km/h (90 mph)

Chatham Main Line
Legend
London Victoria Grosvenor Road Carriage Sidings Grosvenor Bridge x20px River Thames Battersea Park Battersea Park Road Brighton Main Line South Western Main Line to London Waterloo all lines to Clapham Junction South London Line Factory Junction Stewarts Lane TMD Wandsworth Road Clapham High Street Brixton Catford Loop Line East Brixton Thameslink line to Blackfriars and the north Herne Hill Denmark Hill Sutton and Mole Valley Lines to Tulse Hill Peckham Rye West Dulwich South London Line to London Bridge or Whitechapel Sydenham Hill Nunhead Sydenham (Hill) or Penge Tunnel 2,141 yards (1,958 m) Nunhead to Lewisham link to Crystal Palace Crystal Palace and South London Junction Rwy Brighton Main Line (London Bridge branch) Penge East Crofton Park Kent House Catford Crystal Palace Line Hayes Line to London Bridge and other London Terminals Limited service curve Bellingham Beckenham Junction Beckenham Hill Ravensbourne Catford Loop Line Shortlands Junction Shortlands Bromley South Bickley to London Bridge and other London Terminals Chislehurst Junction South Eastern Main Line to Orpington and Tonbridge St Mary Cray River Cray Swanley Swanley Junction Ashford to Swanley Line M25 motorway Farningham Road River Darent Fawkham Junction Longfield to High Speed 1 and former Gravesend West Branch Meopham Sole Street High Speed 1 M2 motorway North Kent Line towards London Medway Valley Line to Maidstone Strood Rochester Bridge (LCDR) Rochester Bridge River Medway Rochester Rochester Common Chatham Central Fort Pitt Tunnel 428 yards (391 m) Chatham Chatham Tunnel 297 yards (272 m) Gillingham Tunnel 897 yards (820 m) Gillingham Gillingham Depot to Chatham Dockyard Rainham Newington Sheerness Line Sittingbourne Teynham Faversham Dover branch Ramsgate branch Whitstable Town Whitstable Canterbury & Whitstable Rwy Chestfield & Swalecliffe Hampton pier Herne Bay RAF Manston Birchington-on-Sea Westgate-on-Sea Margate Margate Sands(SER) Selling Margate East Broadstairs Tivoli Ramsgate Harbour Tunnel 1,124 yards (1,028 m) Ramsgate Harbour(LCDR) Dumpton Park Ramsgate Town(SER) Ramsgate Depot Ramsgate St Lawrence for Pegwell Bay Ebbsfleet and Cliffsend Halt Ashford to Ramsgate (via Canterbury West) line Canterbury East Kent Coast Line Bekesbourne Adisham Aylesham Snowdown East Kent Railway Shepherds Well Shepherd's Well Tunnel 2,376 yards (2,173 m) Stonehall and Lydden Halt Kearsney Kent Coast Line from Ramsgate Buckland Junction Charlton Tunnel 154 yards (141 m) Dover Priory Dover Harbour Tunnel 684 yards (625 m) Dover Harbour Mileage Change 77 mi 76 ch (Victoria) 76 mi 50 ch (Charing Cross) Hawkesbury Street Junction Connection to Train ferry Dover Town Pier Junction Archcliffe Junction Admiralty Pier South Eastern Main Line Dover Marine

The Chatham Main Line is a railway line in England that links London Victoria and Dover Priory / Ramsgate, travelling via Medway (of which the town of Chatham is part, hence the name).

Services to Cannon Street follow the route as far as St Mary Cray Junction where they diverge onto the South Eastern Main Line near Chislehurst.

Services to Charing Cross as well as some slow Cannon Street services run in parallel from Gillingham to Rochester, diverging once across the River Medway at Rochester Bridge Junction onto the North Kent Line via Gravesend and Dartford.

A shuttle service operates on the Sheerness Line which starts at Sittingbourne.

Heading away from Victoria, between Farningham Road and Longfield Stations, the line which was used by Eurostar trains running from Waterloo International towards Fawkham Junction to pick up High Speed 1 still exists but is no longer used. This line is reserved for emergency use only by Class 395 Javelins travelling to/from Ashford International. As the Eurostar trains have had their 750 V shoes removed, they can no longer use this line.

Services

Most services on the Line are run by Southeastern, part of Govia Group, which also operate the Southern and the London Midland franchises. Govia Thameslink Railway run a Thameslink service, starting from London Blackfriars and travelling via Denmark Hill on the Catford Loop, joining at Shortlands Junction. It then travels to Swanley before heading to Sevenoaks.

While travelling between Bromley South and London Victoria, the trains can either travel on the main line, through Beckenham Junction, Herne Hill and Brixton, or can be divert via the Catford Loop Line, coming away from the main line at Shortlands Junction, travelling through Catford and Peckham Rye, and then just past Brixton it either picks up the Southeastern line all the way, or can follow the Southern (Atlantic) Line through Clapham High Street Station before crossing back over to the Southeastern Line to Victoria Station.

Since a major timetable change in December 2009, the typical Off-Peak services on this line are as follows.

A half hourly service currently consist of either stopping or semi-fast trains, one travelling from Ramsgate and the other from Dover Priory where the two of the trains would then normally join together at Faversham. They will then stop at either Teynham or Newington on an alternating half hourly service, and will include Sittingbourne in between these stations. Then Rainham (Kent), Gillingham (Kent), Chatham, Rochester, Meopham, Longfield, and Bromley South then non-stop to London Victoria.

An hourly stopping service starts from Gillingham (which used to be a half hourly service from Faversham), stopping at Chatham, Rochester, Sole Street, Meopham, Longfield, Farningham Road, Swanley, St Mary Cray, Bromley South and London Victoria only. Stations prior to Farningham Road (as coming from London Victoria) are served by stoppers on the Swanley to Ashford (via Maidstone East) Line.

The introduction of the Class 395 Javelins, coinciding with the opening of a link to High Speed 1 in December 2009 has seen the addition of a half hourly service departing from Faversham calling at Sittingbourne, Rainham, Gillingham, Chatham and Rochester. It then switches over to the North Kent Metro Line, calling at Strood and Gravesend, before then picking up a dedicated line to Ebbsfleet International, and then dropping onto High Speed 1, where it calls at Stratford International, and St Pancras International. There is no First Class service on this train, and between Faversham and Gravesend, this is treated as a classic service, which means you can travel with a standard (Non High Speed) ticket, but if you want to travel to any of the High Speed One Stations, you will have to pay a premium fare or purchase a supplemental ticket (Plus High Speed) either on the train heading towards St Pancras International, or from one of the High Speed Stations for the return leg of the journey. Train tickets which are valid for use across multiple networks (Not just Southeastern) are usually exempt from this premium fare, unless you are travelling within the London Area or the outskirts.

During the London 2012 Summer Olympics, the service was cut back to only one train per hour from Faversham to St Pancras International, due to additional Shuttle Trains running from St Pancras to Stratford International. All the London Termini were extremely busy during this time, with a queuing system in place at the very busiest stations.

There is a suburban (metro) service where the majority of this travels on a small part of this line. Departing from Victoria, it calls at Brixton, Herne Hill, West Dulwich, Sydenham Hill, Penge East, Kent House, Beckenham Junction (for the Croydon Tramlink), Shortlands, Bromley South, and Bickley. It then switches to the South Eastern Main Line at Chislehurst Junction where it calls at Petts Wood, terminating at Orpington. From here, you can pick up services towards Tonbridge, Tunbridge Wells and non-high speed services to Ashford International.

From 13th December 2015, the off-peak timetable consists of two trains per hour from Victoria, calling at Bromley South, Longfield, Meopham, Rochester, Chatham, and Rainham. One service will call at Newington, Sittingbourne, Teynham and Faversham, then all stations to Dover Priory. The other service will call at Sittingbourne and Faversham then all stations to Margate and Ramsgate. These trains will no longer split or join up at Faversham. The hourly stopping service from Victoria now goes as far as Dover Priory, calling at Denmark Hill, Bromley South, St Mary Cray then all stations to Gillingham. It then becomes a semi-fast service, calling at Rainham, Sittingbourne, Faversham, Canterbury East and Dover Priory. The High Speed Service will still run two trains per hour from St Pancras International to Faversham via Gravesend and Chatham. One service will still terminate, and then travel back to St Pancras International via Chatham and Gravesend. The other service will continue as a semi-fast service calling at Whitstable, Herne Bay, Birchington, Margate, Broadstairs and Ramsgate. It will then carry on, stopping at Sandwich, Deal, Walmer, Martin Mill, Dover Priory, Folkestone Central, Folkestone West and Ashford International, before picking up the High Speed Line to Ebbsfleet International, Stratford International and arriving back at St Pancras International. The same will operate in the opposite direction. It is thought that this timetable will probably carry on until the Thameslink upgrade work at London Bridge is finished by 2018. By then there may be another major change to the timetable.

Altered Services due to emergency repairs

On 24th December 2015, engineers carrying out a survey of the railway line running between Dover Priory and Folkestone Central discovered that a section of sea wall carrying the line has eroded away, and suspended the service immediately. This means that there is a rail replacement service between Dover Priory and Folkestone West. The High Speed Service via Chatham, Faversham, Ramsgate and Deal will now terminate at Ramsgate, with another train running between Ramsgate and Dover Priory via Deal. A High Speed Service will start from Folkestone Central via Ashford International to St Pancras International. Also, some services between Ashford International and Ramsgate may be diverted via Canterbury West and will continue to St Pancras via Chatham and Gravesend instead of terminating at Margate. It is predicted that this section on line will not be running until at least the end of February 2016, if not later. In the mean time, Southeastern have announced that the Car Park at Folkestone West will be free while this section of line is under repair, to encourage people from Deal and Dover to drive there to pick up the High Speed Service. Otherwise, people can catch a service from Dover Priory to London Victoria via Chatham instead.

Rolling stock

The following trains are operated on the line : Class 395 "Javelin" since 2009, Class 375 "Electrostar" since 2001, Class 465 "Networker" since 1992 and Class 466 "Networker" since 1993.

History

The line was built by the London, Chatham and Dover Railway, who were in competition with the South Eastern Railway (hence the duplication of stations in Kent). They subsequently built lines to Sevenoaks and Ashford (via Maidstone) from the Chatham Main Line.

The line was electrified (750 V DC third rail) in a series of stages. Initially the new Southern Railway electrified the urban (within London) workings of the SECR in the 1920s. In July 1925 "South Eastern Electrification (Stage 1)" saw the line from Victoria to junction with the South Eastern Main line at Bickley, including the Catford Loop Line electrified. This was extend to outer suburban workings to Sevenoaks via Swanley (Bickley junction to Swanley) in two stages, reaching St Mary Cray in May 1934 and Swanley in January 1935. Full outer suburban electrification was achieved with the "Maidstone & Gillingham Electrification" scheme in July 1939, extending electrification from Swanley to Gillingham. Post war, under the BR's 1955 Modernisation plan, electrification was completed (Gillingham to Ramsgate and Dover) under "Kent Coast Electrification" stage 1 in 1959. At the same time the four track section between Shortlands and St Mary Cray junction was extended to Swanley Junction with a complete rebuilding of the St Mary Cray Junction. Two passing loops were added (to create a four-track section) between Rainham and Newington.

East Kent Resignalling Project

The idea of this project is for control of East Kent from Longfield to Ramsgate and just short of Dover Priory to be under the control of the East Kent Signalling Centre (EKSC) based at Gillingham.

Phase 1 of the project was carried out over the Christmas and New Year period of 2011, which involved the complete re-signalling from just East of Sittingbourne to Faversham, then on to Minster Junction and Buckland Junction, just short of Dover Priory. The old signal boxes were then abolished at Faversham, Margate, Ramsgate, Canterbury East and Shepherdswell. Phase 2 involves the re-signalling of the line between Sittingbourne to Longfield and Strood, including the Sheerness Branch Line and the Medway Valley Line to operate from the East Kent Signalling Centre at Gillingham. This will mean the closure of the Signal Boxes at Sittingbourne, Rainham and Rochester.

On 13th December 2015, a new £26m station on Corporation Street opened 500m west of the original station which it replaced. This station has 3 platforms and can accommodate 12-car trains instead of the 10-cars maximum length at the original station. Some 12-car Peak Time Trains are additionally stopping here. At the moment, platform 3 can not be used until the completion of the East Kent Resignalling Project and the demolition of the Rochester Signal Box.

Rainham has a new bay platform off the up-line, which can accommodate a 12-car train. It is thought for ease that the new platform would be labelled Platform 0 (as they have done with Gravesend Station). Like Rochester, at the moment this platform can not be used until the new signalling is commissioned.

Strood has also been lengthened to accommodate 12-car trains.

It is thought that Phase 2 should be completed by April 2016.

Accidents and incidents

• On 10 September 1963, a freight train became divided and was derailed between Farningham Road and Longfield due to defects in a wagon. The line was closed until 13 September.

Gallery

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  A Class 375, near Farningham Road

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  Car parking at Chatham railway station, the Maidstone Road bridge and the portal to the Chatham Tunnel

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  A Class 375 in Gillingham Depot

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  A 1908 Railway Clearing House map of Chatham Main Line and surrounding lines between Beckenham Jct and Herne Hill

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  A 1908 Railway Clearing House map showing the two different routes of the Chatham Main Line in South London.

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  A 1908 Railway Clearing House map of the end of the Dover branch of the Chatham Main Line.

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  A 1912 Railway Clearing House map of the line's final approaches to Victoria.