System National Rail Owner Network Rail | Status Operational | |
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Type Suburban rail, Heavy rail Locale Kent
South East England Track gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ⁄2 in) standard gauge | ||
The Kent Coast Line is the railway line that runs from Dover Priory to Margate in the English county of Kent.
Contents
It was electrified (750 V DC third rail) by BR under the 1955 Modernisation Plan.
Services
Services are operated by Southeastern, using Class 375 Trains. Typical service is hourly from Charing Cross to Ashford, dividing there into a part to Ramsgate via Canterbury West, and a part via the Kent Coast Line. See South Eastern Main Line.
A small number of the services via the Kent Coast Line (via Dover Priory) call additionally at Minster on weekday mornings and afternoons, acting as a school service.
History
The South Eastern Railway's (SER) first main line went to Dover via Folkestone and Ashford. The SER Ashford to Margate Broadstairs and Ramsgate (via Canterbury West) line was then extended south to Deal. This was linked up by the "Dover & Deal Joint Railway" with their bitter rival the London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR).
Upon the joint management of the SER and LCDR in 1899 the track layout at Ashford rationalised, with Thanet receiving similar treatment (by Southern) in the 1920s.
The line was electrified under the BR 1955 Modernisation Plan, in "Kent Coast Electrification (Stage 2)" opening January 1961.
The building of the railway was significant in the development of seaside resorts like Broadstairs.
Dover track layout
The Railway Clearing House produced a map that shows the complex layout of this area. This shows the separate connection to the pier where trains used to board ferries.