Kent Past
The History of Kent
Copyright Kent Past 2010
History of Kent Railways
There are not many events that have had the impact on Kent, as the coming of the Railway; its presence could turn fields into towns, whilst absence turned major towns into villages. We discuss the expansion of the various Railways and how the lines developed. The inclusion of lines that are not strictly in Kent may be questioned, although, for many years, they were a hub for routes into London, and for this reason, have been added.
Canterbury & Whitstable Railway
London &Greenwich Railway
London & Croydon Railway
London
& Brighton Railway
South Eastern Railway
East Kent Railway
London Chatham & Dover Railway
The
Southern Railway
Romney Hythe & Dymchurch Railway
Southern Region
Canterbury had always ferried goods on the river Stour, however, by the early 19th
Century that was silting up at a rate that made dredging un-
The answer lay in the building of the
Canterbury and Whitstable Railway, affectionately nicknamed The Crab and Winkle Line.
Opening on 3rd May 1830, it operated the first regular passenger service in the world.
Within two years, the line extended into a purpose built Harbour complex at Whitstable,
which was regularly serviced by steamships, giving Canterbury direct access, once
more, to the sea....
The first Steam railway in London was the London and Greenwich, which opened on 8 February 1836, and the dream child of Colonel George Thomas Landmann. The opening service ran from Spa Road, in Bermondsey, to Deptford, and it was not until the end of 1836, that the line would be completed from London Bridge to Greenwich. Landmann overcame the problems associated with driving a railway through the London suburbs, by raising it above with the use of 878 brick built arches. Parliament had decided that there should only be one rail route into London, and therefore, for many years, all future lines had to travel over the London and Greenwich Railway's track.....more
The London and Croydon Railway operated between London Bridge, running over the track of the London and Greenwich Railway as far as Corbetts Lane, and the thriving market town of Croydon. It was opened in 1839 and in July 1846, merged with other railways to form a part of the London Brighton and South Coast Railway.....more
The London and Brighton Railway was incorporated in 1837 and survived until 1846. It ran from a junction with the London & Croydon Railway at Norwood, enabling it to offer services between London Bridge, and the South Coast at Brighton, together with a branch to Shoreham.....more
The South Eastern Railway operated from 1836 until 1922. The company was formed to
construct a route from London to Dover. Branch lines were later opened to Tunbridge
Wells, Hastings, Canterbury and other places in Kent. The SER absorbed or leased
many railways, some older than itself, including the London and Greenwich and Canterbury
and Whitstable Railways. Most of the company's routes were in Kent, eastern Sussex
and the London suburbs, with a long cross-
Much of the company's early history was attempts at expansion
and feuding with its neighbours; the London Brighton and South Coast Railway in the
west and the London, Chatham and Dover Railway to the north-
The East Kent Railway was incorporated in 1853 for the construction of a line from
the South Eastern Railway's North Kent line at Strood to the city of Canterbury.
Extensions to the line were also sanctioned: eastwards to St Mary Cray, where it
would connect with the Mid-
The London, Chatham and Dover Railway, began life as the East Kent Railway and operated
from 1859 until the 1923 grouping, which united it with other companies to form the
Southern Railway. Its lines ran through the London suburbs, north and east Kent,
forming a significant part of the Greater London commuter network. From the start,
the railway was in an impecunious position.
The Chatham, as it was always known, was
much criticised for its often lamentable carriage stock and poor punctuality, but
in two respects it was very good: it used the highly effective Westinghouse brake
on its passenger stock, and the Sykes 'Lock and Block' system of signalling. It had
an excellent safety record....more
The Southern Railway was a railway company, established in 1923, following the Government,
having taken control of all railways during World War I. After the war, the government
considered permanent nationalisation but instead decided on a compulsory amalgamation
of the railways into four large groups through the 1921 Railways Act, known as the
Grouping. It linked London with the Channel ports, South West England, South coast
resorts and Kent. The railway was formed by the amalgamation of several smaller railway
companies, the largest of which were the London & South Western Railway, the London,
Brighton and South Coast Railway and the South Eastern and Chatham Railway.
The company
continued until the whole rail network was nationalised in 1948 and incorporated
into British Rail. The Southern Railway Company continued to exist as a legal entity
until it went into voluntary liquidation on 10 June 1949....more
The Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway is a 15 in gauge light railway. The 13.5 miles
line runs from the Cinque Port of Hythe via Dymchurch, St. Mary's Bay, New Romney
and Romney Sands to Dungeness.
Constructed during the 1920s and opened on 16 July
1927, the Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway was the dream of millionaire racing drivers
Captain J.E.P. Howey and Count Louis Zborowski. Zborowski was killed in a motor racing
accident at Monza in the Italian Grand Prix. Before his death, he had ordered two
locomotives to be built by Davy Paxman & Co, despite a site for the line not having
been found. Howey asked Henry Greenly, the designer of the new locomotives, to help
with the task of finding a site. It was Greenly who first suggested the Romney Marsh
area....more
The Southern Region was a region of British Railways following nationalisation in
1948. It ceased to be an operating unit in its own right in the 1980s and was wound-
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