Eynsford railway station serves
Eynsford
Eynsford ( or ) is a village and civil parish in the Sevenoaks District of Kent, England. It is located south east of Swanley, south of Dartford.
The village including its farmland and woods occupies the northern half of the triangle formed b ...
in
Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
, England. It is down the line from and is situated between and . Train services are provided by
Thameslink
Thameslink is a 24-hour main-line route in the British railway system, running from , , , and via central London to Sutton, , , Rainham, , , , and . The network opened as a through service in 1988, with severe overcrowding by 1998, carrying m ...
.
History
The
Swanley
Swanley is a town and civil parish in the Sevenoaks District of Kent, England, southeast of central London, adjacent to the Greater London boundary and within the M25 motorway periphery. The population at the 2011 census was 16,226.
History
I ...
to
Sevenoaks Bat & Ball line was opened on 2 June 1862, by the
London, Chatham and Dover Railway
The London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR or LC&DR) was a railway company in south-eastern England created on 1 August 1859, when the East Kent Railway was given parliamentary approval to change its name. Its lines ran through London and nor ...
, initially with just a single track. The station at Eynsford came into use the following month, with two platforms and a passing loop; the second track came in 1863.
The main station building is on the "down" side, two storeys high, with chimney stacks and arched window frames. On the "up" side is a shelter with an elaborate valance and sides for protection from the weather. The track was crossed at ground level until a lattice footbridge was built in about 1910. The signal cabin was positioned at the southern end of the "up" platform.
Eynsford's goods yard was positioned on the "down" side, to the south of the main building, and comprised a pair of sidings, one of which passed over a wagon turntable through the pitched-roof goods shed. The platforms were extended twice, first in 1894 and again in 1932 when they were lengthened at their southern ends, requiring the demolition of the signal box. This was replaced by a porch on the ground floor of the station building's platform side.
Electric services between
Bickley
Bickley is a district and a local government electoral ward in South East London, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is located 10.4 miles (16.7 km) south east of Charing Cross, bordering Elmstead, London, Elmstead to the north, Chis ...
and
Sevenoaks
Sevenoaks is a town in Kent with a population of 29,506 situated south-east of London, England. Also classified as a civil parishes in England, civil parish, Sevenoaks is served by a commuter South Eastern Main Line, main line railway into Lon ...
were introduced on 6 January 1935, when the station lost its lattice footbridge to a prefabricated concrete replacement. Goods traffic ceased in May 1962 and the goods shed was demolished soon after.
![Lullingstone Viaduct - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/00/Lullingstone_Viaduct_-_geograph.org.uk_-_813616.jpg)
Approximately 1 km to the north west lie the remains of
Lullingstone
Lullingstone is a village in the county of Kent, England. It is best known for its castle, Roman villa and its public golf course.
Lullingstone was a civil parish until 1955, when it was annexed to Eynsford. The parish was in Axstane Hundred a ...
, built but never opened, as the development it was intended to serve never materialised. All that remains are the platforms (still ''in situ'') and the platform canopies which were reinstalled at
Canterbury East station. Between the two, the line is taken over the
River Darent
The Darent is a Kentish tributary of the River Thames and takes the waters of the River Cray as a tributary in the tidal portion of the Darent near Crayford, as illustrated by the adjacent photograph, snapped at high tide. 'Darenth' is frequen ...
by an impressive nine-arch red-brick
viaduct
A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, piers or columns supporting a long elevated railway or road. Typically a viaduct connects two points of roughly equal elevation, allowing direct overpass across a wide v ...
.
Facilities
The station has a ticket office which is located in the substantial station building on the Ashford bound platform. This is open during the morning Monday-Friday only (06:10-12:50). At other times, the station is unstaffed and tickets must be purchased from the self-service
ticket machine
A ticket machine, also known as a ticket vending machine (TVM), is a vending machine that produces paper or electronic tickets, or recharges a stored-value card or smart card or the user's mobile wallet, typically on a smartphone. For instance, ...
at the station entrance.
The station has covered seating areas as well as modern
help points located on each of its platforms which are connected by a concrete footbridge.
There is also a small (free) car park and cycle rack at the entrance to the station.
The station has step-free access available to the Ashford bound platform although the London bound platform is only reachable by the stepped footbridge so is not accessible.
Services
Off-peak, all services at Eynsford are operated by
Thameslink
Thameslink is a 24-hour main-line route in the British railway system, running from , , , and via central London to Sutton, , , Rainham, , , , and . The network opened as a through service in 1988, with severe overcrowding by 1998, carrying m ...
using
Class 700 EMUs
Emus may refer to:
* Emu
The emu () (''Dromaius novaehollandiae'') is the second-tallest living bird after its ratite relative the ostrich. It is endemic to Australia where it is the largest native bird and the only extant member of the g ...
.
The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is:
* 2 tph to
London Blackfriars via
* 2 tph to
During the peak hours, the service to London Blackfriars is extended to and from via .
Southeastern
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...
services on the
Maidstone East Line
The Maidstone line is a railway line between Swanley, Maidstone and Ashford in Kent, England.
The line diverges from the Chatham Main Line at Swanley Junction and proceeds down the Darenth valley to Otford junction Retrieved 2012-01-12 (where th ...
call here occasionally during times of service disruption or engineering work.
Bus Connections
The station is served by the
Go-Coach
Go-Coachhire Ltd is a bus operator running a total of 40 bus services (including school services) across Kent and Sussex. The majority of these services are operated on behalf of Kent County Council from their depot in Swanley.
History
Go-Coa ...
route 2 bus service which provides connections to
Swanley
Swanley is a town and civil parish in the Sevenoaks District of Kent, England, southeast of central London, adjacent to the Greater London boundary and within the M25 motorway periphery. The population at the 2011 census was 16,226.
History
I ...
and
Sevenoaks
Sevenoaks is a town in Kent with a population of 29,506 situated south-east of London, England. Also classified as a civil parishes in England, civil parish, Sevenoaks is served by a commuter South Eastern Main Line, main line railway into Lon ...
.
References
External links
{{TSGN and SE Stations, Catford Loop=y, Bromley South=y, SN None=y
Railway stations in Kent
DfT Category E stations
Former London, Chatham and Dover Railway stations
Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1862
Railway stations served by Southeastern
Buildings and structures in Sevenoaks District
1862 establishments in England
Railway stations served by Govia Thameslink Railway