Sevenoaks railway station

Sevenoaks
Location
Place	Sevenoaks
Local authority	Sevenoaks
Operations
Station code	SEV
Managed by	Southeastern
Number of platforms	4
Live arrivals/departures and station information from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage
2004/05 *	3.501 million
2005/06 *	3.585 million
2006/07 *	3.805 million
2007/08 *	4.005 million
2008/09 *	3.869 million
2009/10 *	3.759 million
History
Opened 2 March 1868 (2 March 1868)
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 Sevenoaks from Office of Rail Regulation statistics. Please note: methodology may vary year on year.

Sevenoaks railway station serves the town of Sevenoaks in Kent. Train services are provided by Southeastern.

Trains from the station run northbound to London Bridge, Cannon Street (direct at peak times), Waterloo East and London Charing Cross via Orpington, to London Blackfriars via Swanley and Catford, and southbound to Ashford International and Ramsgate via Dover Priory, and also Tunbridge Wells and Hastings.

History

Sevenoaks railway station was opened on 2 March 1868. It was formerly known as "Tubs Hill", after the adjacent area. There is a second station, on the branch to Swanley Junction, which opened on 2 June 1862. It is named after the Bat & Ball local inn which is now closed, and serves the north end of the town.

The two lines to Sevenoaks were electrified in January 1935. It was the first station in Britain to be rebuilt in the later well-known British Rail red, white and blue colour scheme.^{[citation needed]} When the station was reconstructed in the 1970s a new ticket office was built replacing the old wooden S.E.R. building. Two additional side platforms were also abolished.

Sevenoaks is part of the rail franchise which, post-privatisation, was served by Connex South Eastern. Subsequent to their 'sacking' in 2003 due to poor performance, services were operated by South Eastern Trains, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA). On 1 April 2006, Southeastern, owned by Govia, took over management of the station as part of the new Integrated Kent Franchise.

Accidents

7 June 1884 - A double-headed freight train ran into the rear of another freight train at Tub's Hill station. Both crew of the first train were killed. the Hildenborough signalman was charged with causing their deaths. The trains were being worked under the time interval system.

24 August 1927 - the Sevenoaks railway accident. River class tank locomotive No. 800 River Cray derailed at Shoreham Lane between Dunton Green and Sevenoaks. Thirteen people were killed and 20 were injured. The locomotives were withdrawn and rebuilt as tender locomotives.

Services

The view from platform 3 at Sevenoaks, looking south towards Tonbridge.

Travel times to and from Charing Cross are between 30 and 60 minutes.

As of December 2010 off-peak services from this station are:

• 6 tph (trains per hour) to London Charing Cross (Fast Service)
• 2 tph to London Charing Cross (Stopping service via Grove Park)
• 2 tph to Kentish Town (Stopping service via Swanley and Bromley South)
• 2 tph to Hastings via Tunbridge Wells (one semi-fast, one slow)
• 2 tph to Tunbridge Wells
• 1 tph Dover and Canterbury West, dividing at Ashford International
• 1 tph Ramsgate via Dover and Canterbury West, dividing at Ashford International

Platforms

Platform 1- Fast trains to Charing Cross and Cannon Street

Platform 2- Slow trains to Charing Cross and Cannon Street

Platform 3- All trains to Tunbridge Wells, Hastings, Ashford International and Ramsgate.

Platform 4- Trains to Blackfriars, St Albans, Luton and Bedford

From 22 March 2009 the trains to Blackfriars were extended through to Kentish Town off-peak, and some services through to St Albans, Luton and Bedford.

During the peak period trains also serve London Cannon Street.

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Dunton Green		Southeastern South Eastern Main Line via Paddock Wood		Hildenborough
Orpington		Southeastern Hastings Line		Tonbridge
Dunton Green		Southeastern London to Tunbridge Wells Stopping services via Sevenoaks		Hildenborough
Bat & Ball		Southeastern Sevenoaks - Bedford		Terminus

External links

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