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	Standard gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)
Electrification	750 V DC third rail
Operating speed	90 mph (140 km/h)

[v · d · e]Chatham Main Line

Legend London Victoria for Circle Line, District Line and Victoria Line Victoria Coach Station Grosvenor Bridge Grosvenor Road River Thames Carriage sidings Battersea Park Victoria branch Brighton Main Line and South London Lines SWML to London Waterloo West London Line BML London Victoria branch Factory Junction Connecting chord to SWML Inner South London Line Stewarts Lane TMD Wandsworth Road Clapham High Street Inner South London Line and Catford Loop Line Brixton East Brixton Thameslink line to Blackfriars and the north Herne Hill Sutton Loop Line Denmark Hill from East Dulwich from Streatham Peckham Rye West Dulwich to London Bridge Nunhead Sydenham Hill Nunhead to Lewisham link Sydenham Hill Tunnel to Crystal Palace 2,200 yards (2,000 m) Brighton Main Line (London Bridge branch) Penge East Crofton Park Kent House Catford Crystal Palace Line to London Bridge and Hayes Line other London termini Limited Service curve Bellingham Beckenham Junction Beckenham Hill Ravensbourne Catford Loop Line Shortlands Junction Shortlands Bromley South Bickley to London Bridge and other London termini Chislehurst Junction South Eastern Main Line from Orpington and Tonbridge St Mary Cray River Cray Swanley Swanley Junction Ashford to Swanley Line M25 Farningham Road River Darent to High Speed 1 and Fawkham Junction former Gravesend Longfield West Branch Meopham Sole Street High Speed 1 M2 North Kent Line Medway Valley Line to towards London Maidstone Rochester Bridge LCDR Strood North Kent Junction River Medway Rochester Docks Rochester Common Rochester Chatham Central Fort Pitt Tunnel (428 yds) Chatham Chatham Tunnel(297 yds) Gillingham Tunnel Gillingham to Chatham Dockyard Gillingham Depot Rainham Newington Sheerness Line Sittingbourne Teynham Faversham Ramsgate and Dover branches diverge Whitstable Canterbury & Whitstable Railway Chestfield & Swalecliffe Herne Bay Birchington-on-Sea RAF Manston Westgate-on-Sea Margate SER Margate Sands Margate East Broadstairs Ramsgate Harbour Tunnel Ramsgate Harbour Dumpton Park SER Ramsgate Town Ramsgate Depot Ramsgate St Lawrence for Pegwell Bay Ebbsfleet and Cliffsend Halt Ashford to Ramsgate (via Canterbury West) line Selling Kent Coast Line to Ashford Canterbury East Bekesbourne Adisham Aylesham Snowdown East Kent Railway Shepherds Well Shepherd's Well Tunnel Stonehall and Lydden Halt 2376 yd (2138 m) Kearsney Kent Coast Line to Ramsgate Dover Priory Dover Harbour Tunnel Dover Harbour Mileage Change 77m76ch (Victoria) Hawkesbury Street Jn 76m50ch (Charing Cross) Connection to Train Ferry Dover Town Admiralty Pier Archcliffe Jn Dover Marine South Eastern Main Line

The Chatham Main Line is a British railway line that runs from either London Victoria to Dover Priory / Ramsgate or London St Pancras to Faversham, with both services travelling via Medway (of which Chatham is part, hence the name). Some trains on the service also run from Bedford via London Blackfriars (connecting at Bromley).

Services to Cannon Street follow the route as far as Chislehurst Junction where they diverge onto the Chislehurst line.

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 Eurostars running from Waterloo International towards Southfleet 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 Eurostars have had their 750V shoes removed, they can no longer use this line.

Services

Most services on the Line are run by Southeastern, part of Govia Group.

While traveling towards London Victoria, after Bromley South, the trains can either travel on the main line, through Beckenham Junction, Herne Hill and Brixton, or can 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 and Wandsworth Road Stations, 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.

Services currently consist of either stopping or semi-fast trains, one traveling from Ramsgate and the other from Dover Priory where the 2 trains would then normally join together at Faversham. They will then stop at either Teynham or Newington on an alternating half hourly service, but will include Sittingbourne in between these stations. Then Rainham , Gillingham, Chatham, Rochester, Meopham, Longfield, and Bromley South then non-stop to London Victoria. This operates as a half hourly service.

An hourly service starts from Gillingham (which used to be a half hourly service from Faversham), stopping all stations to St Mary Cray, then 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, Rochester, Strood and Gravesend, then across to Ebbsfleet International via a dedicated line, before dropping onto High Speed 1, finally calling at Stratford International, and London St Pancras. There is no First Class service on this train, and between Faversham and Gravesend, this is treated as a domestic service, which means you can travel with a standard (Non High Speed) ticket, but if you want to travel to Ebbsfleet Intl, Stratford Intl, or St Pancras Intl, you will have to pay a premium fare or purchase a supplemental ticket either on the train heading towards St Pancras, or from one of the High Speed Stations for the return leg of the journey.

There is a suburban service which runs on the majority of this line, departing from Victoria, calling 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

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 (750v 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.^[1] 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^[1] and Swanley in January 1935.^[1] Full outer suburban electrification was achieved with the "Maidstone & Gillingham Electrification" scheme in July 1939, extending electrification from Swanley to Gillingham.^[1] 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.^[1] 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.

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.

See also

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e} "Electric Railways". 'Stendec Systems'. 2007. http://www.electric-railways.co.uk/L2_DC_750_CR/1_general/g3_proj/prj-0d75-sr.html. Retrieved 2007-03-29. 

External links