Gravesend railway station

Gravesend
Location
Place	Gravesend
Local authority	Gravesham
Grid reference	TQ645740
Operations
Station code	GRV
Managed by	Southeastern
Number of platforms	2
Live arrivals/departures and station information from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2004/05	2.247 million
2005/06	2.358 million
2006/07	2.482 million
2007/08	2.786 million
2008/09	2.717 million
2009/10	2.502 million
2010/11	2.647 million
- Interchange	43,815
2011/12	2.706 million
- Interchange	63,462
History
Opened 30 July 1849 (30 July 1849)
National Rail – UK railway stations
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Gravesend from Office of Rail Regulation statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Auto-train for Allhallows-on-Sea in 1959

Gravesend railway station serves the town of Gravesend in north Kent; train services are operated by Southeastern. The station is 24 miles (38 km) from London Charing Cross. It has two central through lines for through freight trains and peak-time non-stopping passenger services and up and down loops that serve the two platforms.

History

The first railway to arrive in Gravesend was the Gravesend & Rochester Railway (G&RR) who had purchased the Thames and Medway Canal and its tunnel between Strood and Higham. The G&RR ran the first train to the then terminus at Gravesend (adjacent to the Canal Basin) on 10 February 1845. On 30 July 1849 the line was extended to North Kent East Junction on the South Eastern Railway (SER) and thence to London Bridge.

There was a second Gravesend station (in later years known as Gravesend West), opened by SER's rivals London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR). It was the end of a branch off the LCDR's main line and it allowed access to Victoria. journey times were uncompetitive and when the two companies merged in 1899, the branch was soon relegated to a secondary line and closed in 1968.

High speed HS1 services to London St Pancras International were introduced in December 2009 and proved highly successful. The station is now seen as a major interchange for metro and high speed services. It is noted that there is a far greater customer patronage for high speed services to London St Pancras International from Gravesend in comparison to nearby Ebbsfleet International, where usage is considered modest at best. This might be due (in part), to the sizeable London bound commuter population in and around Gravesham, as opposed to domestic passenger use at Ebbsfleet International, from elsewhere in North West Kent.

In December 2008, the local authority for Gravesend (Gravesham Council), were formally requested by Crossrail and the DfT, to sanction the revised Crossrail Safeguarding. This safeguarding provides for a potential service extension, from the current south of Thames terminus at Abbey Wood, to continue via North Kent Line to Gravesend station. The Crossrail route extension from Abbey Wood to Gravesend & Hoo Junction, remains on statute. With current services from Gravesend to London Bridge, London Waterloo East and London Charing Cross being supplemented by highspeed trains from the end of 2009 to London St Pancras, the potential in having Crossrail services from central London, London Heathrow, Maidenhead and/or Reading, terminating at Gravesend, would not only raise the station to hub status but greatly contribute towards the town's regeneration.

Future

Gravesend railway station is at the heart of the £75 million Gravesend Transport Quarter. The station is currently undergoing a major overhaul. Works include enlarged ticket halls, new baby changing facilities, revamp and reopening of the Gents WC on Platform 2, new indicator screens and additional space for retail opportunities. It is expected that in 2013 the station's track layout will be substantially altered. This is primarily for extending the current platforms to accommodate 12 coach trains as opposed to the present 10 coach limit. The current historic but narrow central footbridge, is to be replaced with a large sheltered bridge with lifts, at the London end of the station and serving 3 platforms. Platform 1 will be extended and converted to a London facing bay platform. A new single face central Platform 2 is to be located on the site of what will then be, the former Up 'through' road. Services from Medway and Faversham, including London bound high speed trains, will use this platform. The current Platform 2 will be renumbered Platform 3 and cater for coast bound services, although Network Rail is being encouraged to retain its turnback capability.

The station car park (and the adjoining vicinity), is to become a 6 storey major transport interchange building featuring a 396 space multi storey car park, a six-bay bus station, a large retail area inside the building, plus ticketing facilities for train, buses and Fastrack. Construction is expected to begin in December 2013.

Services

The typical off-peak service from the station is:

Typical off-peak services are:

• 2tph (trains per hour) to London St Pancras via Ebbsfleet International
• 2tph to London Charing Cross via Dartford and Sidcup
• 2tph to London Charing Cross via Dartford, Woolwich Arsenal and Lewisham
• 2tph to Gillingham (Kent)
• 2tph to Faversham
• 4tpd using Class 395 Javelin units operate to St Pancras and Maidstone West via Strood.

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Northfleet		Southeastern North Kent Line		Higham
Ebbsfleet International or Stratford International		Southeastern High Speed 1		Strood
		Ferry services
Tilbury Town via Bus Link		Gravesend - Tilbury Ferry		Terminus
	Disused railways
Terminus		British Rail Southern Region Hoo Peninsula branch		Uralite Halt
Northfleet		British Rail Southern Region North Kent Line		Denton Halt
Northfleet		British Rail Southern Region North Kent Line		Milton Range Halt
Northfleet		British Rail Southern Region North Kent Line		Hoo Junction Staff Halt

External links

• Train times and station information for Gravesend railway station from National Rail