Dartford railway station
Dartford railway station serves the town of Dartford in Kent, England. It is 17 miles 12 chains (27.6 km) down the line from London Charing Cross. Train services from the station are operated by Southeastern and Thameslink. Southeastern also manages the station. Dartford is a major interchange station in the North Kent region of the Southeastern network. Ticket barriers control access to the platforms.
Dartford  | |
|---|---|
 | |
  Dartford Location of Dartford in Kent | |
| Location | Dartford |
| Local authority | Borough of Dartford |
| Grid reference | TQ543743 |
| Managed by | Southeastern |
| Station code | DFD |
| DfT category | C1 |
| Number of platforms | 4 |
| Accessible | Yes |
| Fare zone | 8 |
| National Rail annual entry and exit | |
| 2015–16 |  3.450 million[1] |
| – interchange | 0.690 million[1] |
| 2016–17 | 3.908 million[1] |
| – interchange | 0.818 million[1] |
| 2017–18 | 4.164 million[1] |
| – interchange |  0.430 million[1] |
| 2018–19 | 4.623 million[1] |
| – interchange | 0.402 million[1] |
| 2019–20 | 4.659 million[1] |
| – interchange | 0.333 million[1] |
| Key dates | |
| 30 July 1849 | Station opened |
| Other information | |
| External links | |
| WGS84 | 51.4475°N 0.2193°E |
 London transport portal | |
The station is where three lines from London meet:
- the North Kent Line, via Woolwich Arsenal
- the Bexleyheath Line
- the Dartford Loop Line via Sidcup.
Westbound services normally terminate at London Charing Cross, London Cannon Street (both via London Bridge), London Victoria and, for Thameslink trains, Luton and Bedford. Services from London also continue through Dartford to Greenhithe (for Bluewater) to terminate at Gravesend, Strood, Rochester or Gillingham. Thameslink trains terminate at Rainham.
Many of the terminating services at Dartford form London bound services, but the remainder will be stabled and maintained at Slade Green Depot approximately two miles west on the North Kent Line. There are several sidings to the east of the station where terminating trains can be stabled until such time as needed to return to Dartford to form London bound services or until drivers are available to return the train to Slade Green Depot.
History
The first station was opened here by the South Eastern Railway it extended its North Kent Line from Gravesend on 30 July 1849, taking the line from there to London. The original station building had an Italianate design; this was replaced by a glass and metal ticket office complex in 1972. A footbridge leads across the line to the two island platforms.
Replacement of the 1972 station building was approved in 2011,[2] with enabling works started late that year, and major works commenced in mid-2012. The new building was completed in November 2013.[3]
Future development
In the future, Dartford station may form part of a Crossrail extension line, linking to Canary Wharf, London Paddington station, Heathrow Airport and Reading.[4]
Trivia
In 1960, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards met by chance at the station, going on to be the core writing team of the Rolling Stones. There is a plaque on the London-bound platform to commemorate this fact.[5][6][7]
Dartford railway station gained a lot of attention due to the high numbers of people travelling using this line, mistakenly not knowing that Oyster cards were not valid, and there was evidence of being approached by staff and receiving penalty fares.[8] In September 2015 Transport for London extended the London fare zones to add Dartford to zone 8, thus allowing Oyster and Contactless payment methods to be used there.[9]
Services
The typical off-peak service from the station is:
- 2tph (trains per hour) to Luton via Woolwich Arsenal & London Blackfriars
- 2tph to London Charing Cross via Woolwich Arsenal & Lewisham
- 2tph to London Charing Cross via Bexleyheath
- 4tph to London Charing Cross via Sidcup, 2tph of which are stopping services and 2tph are semi fast
- 2tph to London Victoria via Bexleyheath
- 4tph to Gravesend, 2tph of which are stopping services and 2tph are semi fast
- 2tph to Rainham (Kent)
| Preceding station | National Rail |
Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crayford | Southeastern Sidcup Line |
Stone Crossing | ||
| Slade Green | Thameslink North Kent Line |
|||
| Southeastern North Kent Line |
Terminus | |||
| Barnehurst | Southeastern Bexleyheath Line |
|||
| Southeastern Victoria-Gravesend Line |
Greenhithe | |||
Connections
Arriva Kent Thameside Routes 414, 423, 455, 477, 480, 490 serve the station.
Fastrack routes A and B serve the station.[10]
Go-Coach Hire routes 429, Dart 1 and Dart 2 serve the station.
London Buses Routes 96, 428 and 492 serve the station. London Travelcards and Bus Passes are valid on these throughout the entire route.
Concessionary and electronic ticketing
Oyster and contactless bank cards
Dartford entered the TfL zonal Oyster/contactless system on Sunday 6 September 2015, in Zone 8. Whilst season tickets, daily capping and contactless weekly capping are set at standard Zone 8 levels, single fares from Dartford are lower than "standard" Zone 8 fares.[11]
This followed Southeastern agreement to seek to bring Oyster/Contactless PAYG to Dartford by 31 January 2016 as part of the 2014–2018 franchise extension.[12]
Passenger representation
Dartford Rail Travellers' Association[13] campaigns for improvements across the seven railway stations in the Dartford area - Dartford, Stone Crossing, Greenhithe for Bluewater, Swanscombe, Ebbsfleet International, Longfield and Farningham Road. The group operates through social media on Facebook and Twitter.
References
- "Station usage estimates". Rail statistics. Office of Rail Regulation. Please note: Some methodology may vary year on year.
- "Dartford station upgrade plans revealed : Southeastern". web.archive.org. Archived from the original on 5 January 2014. Retrieved 29 July 2016.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
- "Dartford Station, UK investment delivers a better railway for passengers | News | Breaking Travel News". breakingtravelnews.com. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
- "Abbey Wood to Hoo Junction - Crossrail". crossrail.co.uk. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
- "Rolling Stones plaque 'disgusts' Bill Wyman - BBC News". bbc.com. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
- Victor Bockris, Keith Richards: The Unauthorised Biography - Page 21, 2002, Omnibus Press, ISBN 0-7119-8868-4
- Christopher Sandford, Keith Richards: Satisfaction - Page 174, 2004, Carroll & Graf Publishers, ISBN 0-7867-1368-2
- "Passenger angry at fine for not knowing he could not use Oyster card at Dartford station (From News Shopper)". newsshopper.co.uk. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
- "Oyster cards and contactless payment now work in Dartford train station". kentonline.co.uk. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
- http://www.arrivabus.co.uk/uploadedFiles/Network_Maps/South_East/Thameside_Ntwrk_Dgm_(Mar08).pdf
- "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 September 2015. Retrieved 19 September 2015.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/389306/RED_LSER_Franchise_Agreement_DA__x_.pdf
- "Dartford Rail Travellers' Association - Campaigning for improvements to rail transport serving the 7 stations in the borough of Dartford". Archived from the original on 5 February 2016. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dartford railway station. |