Staplehurst railway station

Staplehurst railway station is on the South Eastern Main Line in England, serving the town of Staplehurst, Kent. It is 41 miles 70 chains (67.4 km) down the line from London Charing Cross . The station and all trains calling there are operated by Southeastern.

Staplehurst
LocationStaplehurst, Borough of Maidstone
England
Grid referenceTQ783444
Managed bySoutheastern
Platforms2
Other information
Station codeSPU
ClassificationDfT category C2
History
Opened31 August 1842
Passengers
2014/15 0.888 million
2015/16 0.858 million
2016/17 0.851 million
2017/18 0.837 million
2018/19 0.872 million
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road
Staplehurst
railway
station
 1950 
 Legend
 Running lines
 Sidings

The station opened in August 1842. It is well-known for the Staplehurst rail crash on 9 June 1865 on which Charles Dickens was a passenger.

History

The station was opened by the South Eastern Railway on 31 August 1842, when the line was extended from Tonbridge to Headcorn.[1][2] The platforms were widened in 1889.[3] A footbridge over the platforms was installed in 1961, in preparation for the electification of the South Eastern Main Line.[4]

A coal depot was established at Staplehurst in September 1965. All goods facilities were withdrawn on 4 October 1971.[5]

Facilities

Staplehurst is located in the north of the urban area on the A229 road which runs from Chatham to Hastings via Maidstone.[6] The ticket office is located on the London-bound platform 1. A passenger-operated self-service ticket machine is located next to the station.[7]

The station is used by commuters to London from Cranbrook, Sissinghurst and Hawkhurst, which have no stations of their own. Arriva bus 5 links these three settlements to the station.[8]

Services

As of December 2019, the off-peak service at the station in trains per hour is:[9]

There are also peak hour services to London Cannon Street

Preceding station National Rail Following station
Southeastern

Incidents

The stretch of line near the station which crosses the River Beult was the site of a fatal train accident on 9 June 1865, which killed ten people and injured forty. This accident is well known in literary circles as Charles Dickens was on the stricken train and survived. The accident left Dickens very anxious about rail travel.[10]

On 21 January 1960, the up platform buildings were destroyed by fire. They were replaced by a modern construction.[4]

On 14 September 1996, a train derailed at the station.[11] The cause of the accident was excess speed.[12]

References

Citations

  1. Butt 1995, p. 219.
  2. Gray 1990, p. 17.
  3. Gray 1990, p. 154.
  4. Mitchell & Smith 1990, Fig. 94.
  5. Mitchell & Smith 1990, Fig. 91.
  6. Mitchell & Smith 1990, Staplehurst - Map and Fig. 92.
  7. "Staplehurst". SouthEastern. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  8. "5 Maidstone to Sandhurst Bus Services". Arriva Bus Services. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  9. "Timetable 1 - London and Tonbridge to Ashford International, Canterbury West, Folkestone, Dover, Ramsgate and Margate" (PDF). SouthEastern. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  10. Gray 1990, pp. 146-147.
  11. "Freight Train Derailments". Hansard. 20 May 1997. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  12. "Staplehurst 14/09/1996" (PDF). Rail Safety & Standards Board. Retrieved 22 June 2011.

Sources

  • Butt, R. V. J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199.
  • Gray, Adrian (1990). South Eastern Railway. Middleton Press. ISBN 978-0-906520-85-7.
  • Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (1990). Redhill to Ashford. Middleton Press. ISBN 0-906520-73-8.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.