East Kent Railway

East Kent Railway

The East Kent Railway (EKR) was incorporated in 1853 for the construction of a line from the South Eastern Railway (SER) (North Kent line) at Strood to the city of Canterbury. Extensions to the line were also sanctioned: eastwards to St Mary Cray to connect with the Mid-Kent line; and southwards to the town of Dover.

1850 - 1858

In 1850 the railway provision in the north of the county of Kent was very poor. It was 102 miles by the main SER route from London to Margate and Deal; Rochester and Chatham, important towns even at that date, were only served by the branch line from the SER main line; and Faversham, Sittingbourne and the Isle of Sheppey had no railway communication at all. A large meeting was held at Rochester on 29 January 1850 to discuss the need for a railway connecting Strood to Dover. Although the idea of an independent railway was adopted, the plans came to nothing; eventually, three years later the EKR came into being.

The construction of the line took a long time: it was not until March 1858 that the section from Strood was opened as far as Faversham, and that was single track line (with provision for doubling) throughout its length. That line was only 18.5 miles (30km) in length, and had taken five years to build.: the service was only five trains per day in each direction, with a journey time of 50 minutes.

1858 - 1859

The slow progress of construction was because of the parlous financial state of the EKR throughout is existence. Contractors were often left unpaid; although the schemes for the extensions were going ahead. One problem was that the SER obstructed the work; it even refused to handle EKR traffic. This led to the latter seeking a different route into London: the opening of the West End of London and Crystal Palace Railway (WELCPR) and the Mid-Kent Railway (MKR) lines offered that chance. Both those railways had reached Beckenham and the latter now extended to St Mary Cray. The WELCPR also extended to Beckenham: its line took trains to Battersea on the south of the River Thames. Entry into Victoria station was by the so-called Victoria Station & Pimlico Railway.

All that remained was the Act authorising the EKR extension to St Mary Cray, and this was granted in 1858: in the following year the East Kent Railway changed its name to the London, Chatham and Dover Railway. On 1 November 1861 the route giving the railway access to London was opened.

ee also

* East Kent light railway
* East Kent Railway (heritage)

References

*"The South Eastern and Chatham Railway" (O.S.Nock, 1961)

External links

*cite episode
title = East Kent Railway
credits = Platform 14 Ltd
network = ITV Meridian
url = http://www.alongtheselines.co.uk/
series = Along These Lines
airdate = 2008-05-18
season = 1
number = 6


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • East Kent Railway (heritage) — The East Kent Railway (EKR) is a short heritage railway in Kent, England. It is located at Shepherdswell station on the London to Dover Priory direct mainline. The line was constructed from 1911 1917 to serve a local colliery at Tilmanstone. See… …   Wikipedia

  • East Kent Railways — East Kent Railway may refer to:* East Kent Railway, the predecessor of the London, Chatham and Dover Railway * East Kent light railway, one of the Colonel Stephens railways * East Kent Railway (heritage), a present day heritage railway …   Wikipedia

  • East Kent Light Railway — The East Kent Light Railway was part of the Colonel Stephens group of cheaply built rural light railways in England. Holman Fred Stephens was engineer from its inception, subsequently becoming director and manager. The line ran from Shepherdswell …   Wikipedia

  • East Argentine Railway — The East Argentine Railway (EA) (in Spanish: Ferrocarril Este Argentino) was a British owned railway company, founded in 1871, that operated a RailGauge|sg|al=on|lk=on railway network in the Entre Ríos and Corrientes provinces of Argentina.… …   Wikipedia

  • Kent And East Sussex Railway — Le Kent and East Sussex Railway (KESR) est un chemin de fer touristique britannique. Il fut ouvert par le Colonel H.F. Stephens, ingénieur ferroviaire britannique, en 1900. Dans son extension maximale, il reliait Robertsbridge sur la ligne de… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Kent and east sussex railway — Le Kent and East Sussex Railway (KESR) est un chemin de fer touristique britannique. Il fut ouvert par le Colonel H.F. Stephens, ingénieur ferroviaire britannique, en 1900. Dans son extension maximale, il reliait Robertsbridge sur la ligne de… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Kent and East Sussex Railway — The Kent East Sussex Railway refers to both an historical private railway company in Kent and Sussex in England, as well as a heritage railway currently running on part of the route of the historical company.Historical CompanyOpening And… …   Wikipedia

  • East Kent Road Car Company — The East Kent Road Car Company Ltd was formed in 1916 and is based in Canterbury, Kent. The company operated bus and coach services in Kent. In 1993 it was one of the first companies to be aquired by the Stagecoach Group, who eventualy rebranded… …   Wikipedia

  • Kent and East Sussex Railway — Le Kent and East Sussex Railway (KESR) est un chemin de fer touristique britannique. Il fut ouvert par le Colonel H.F. Stephens, ingénieur ferroviaire britannique, en 1900. Dans son extension maximale, il reliait Robertsbridge sur la ligne de… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • East Farleigh railway station — Infobox UK station name = East Farleigh code = EFL caption = East Farleigh railway station in 1977 manager = Southeastern locale = East Farleigh borough = Maidstone lowusage0405 = 18,091 lowusage0506 = 17,527 lowusage0607 = 21,782 platforms = 2… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”