Place Dover Station code DVP DfT category D Opened 22 July 1861 Number of platforms 3 | Grid reference TR313415 Managed by Southeastern 2011/12 0.915 million Phone +44 845 000 2222 | |
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Address Station Approach, Folkestone Rd, Dover CT17 9SB, UK Similar Folkestone Central railway st, Canterbury East railway st, Ashford International railway st, Folkestone West railway st, Faversham railway station | ||
Dover Priory railway station is the southern terminus of the South Eastern Main Line in England, and is the main station serving the town of Dover, Kent, the other open station being Kearsney, on the outskirts. It is 77 miles 26 chains (124.4 km) down-line from London Charing Cross. The station and all trains that call are operated by Southeastern.
Contents
Services
As of September 2016 the off peak service is:
History
Dover Priory opened on 22 July 1861 as the temporary terminus of the London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR). It became a through station on 1 November 1861, with the completion of a tunnel though the Western Heights to gain access to the Western Docks area, where LCDR created Dover Harbour station The station was known as Dover Town but was renamed in July 1863 (leading to rival SER to adopt the name for one of its Dover stations).
In 1868 stationmaster Edward Walsh(e) was murdered by 18-year-old Thomas Wells, a porter for the LCDR, after having rebuked him for poor work. Wells was convicted and hanged.
The Southern Railway consolidated passenger services at Priory in 1927 and modernised the station in 1932. The Chatham Main Line into Priory was electrified in 1959 as part of Stage 1 of Kent Coast Electrification, under the BR 1955 Modernisation Plan. The line up to Ramsgate, via Deal, was subsequently electrified under stage two of Kent Coast electrification in January 1961. The line from Folkestone into Priory was electrified in June 1961.
The high-speed service to London St Pancras started in 2009, after the track in the tunnels to the south was realigned to allow for emergency evacuation from rolling stock without end doors.
Services to and from Folkestone Central were suspended on 24 December 2015 due to major damage to the track and sea wall near Dover harbour caused by strong winds & tidal surges. A replacement bus service was in operation between the two stations, along with a modified timetable whilst repair work was carried out. This was expected to continue throughout 2016, whilst a new £44.5 million viaduct was constructed to replace the present rail embankment & sea wall. The project was scheduled for completion in December 2016, but progressed faster than originally anticipated - the line reopened on 5 September 2016.