![Maidstone East station, with local train to Ashford geograph-2673310-by-Ben-Brooksbank](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/02/Maidstone_East_station%2C_with_local_train_to_Ashford_geograph-2673310-by-Ben-Brooksbank.jpg)
Maidstone East railway station is one of three stations in the central area of
Maidstone
Maidstone is the largest Town status in the United Kingdom, town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies 32 miles (51 km) east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the c ...
,
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, but currently the only one with a regular direct service to London. The station is on the
Maidstone 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 ...
, from , and is served by trains operated by
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 ...
.
History
Maidstone East was opened as ''Maidstone'' 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 ...
(LCDR) on 1 June 1874 as the terminus of the line from
Otford
Otford is a village and civil parish in the Sevenoaks District of Kent, England. It lies on the River Darent, north of Sevenoaks. Otford's four churches are the Anglican Church of St Bartholomew in the village centre, the Otford Methodist Churc ...
. The location of the station was determined by local geography, as the ground from the
River Medway
The River Medway is a river in South East England. It rises in the High Weald AONB, High Weald, East Sussex and flows through Tonbridge, Maidstone and the Medway conurbation in Kent, before emptying into the Thames Estuary near Sheerness, a to ...
west of the station rises sharply to the east. Consequently, it was built on a restricted site across from a high-level bridge over the river, immediately before entering the Week Street tunnel. On 1 July 1884, the line was extended eastwards to .
In 1899, following the merger of the LCDR with the
South Eastern Railway (SER) which operated the Medway Valley line, the station was given its current name to distinguish it from the SER's identically named station which was renamed Maidstone West. Following the
grouping
Grouping may refer to:
* Muenchian grouping
* Principles of grouping
* Railways Act 1921, also known as Grouping Act, a reorganisation of the British railway system
* Grouping (firearms), the pattern of multiple shots from a sidearm
See also ...
of mainline rail companies into regional railways in 1923, the
Southern Railway undertook electrification as far as Maidstone East in 1939. Electrification to Ashford was carried out in 1961.
The high-level bridge over the Medway was rebuilt in 1927, as the original could not support the full weight of locomotive traffic. A footbridge was incorporated into the new bridge, allowing a shorter route to Maidstone Barracks station.
The goods yard comprised ten sidings on the down side and two on the up side. There was a
goods shed
A goods shed is a railway building designed for storing goods before or after carriage in a train. A typical goods shed will have a track running through it to allow goods wagons to be unloaded under cover, although sometimes they were built ...
and a 10-ton capacity crane. West of the high-level bridge, a siding on the down side served a
corn mill
A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that has been separated ...
. In 1939, this siding was electrified to provide berthing siding for
electric multiple unit
An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple-unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a numbe ...
s. In 1882, the
Midland Railway
The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had its headquarters. It am ...
opened a coal depot at the station. Their successor, the
London, Midland and Scottish Railway
The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSIt has been argued that the initials LMSR should be used to be consistent with LNER, GWR and SR. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway's corporate image used LMS, and this is what is generally u ...
sold the depot in 1934, although it continued to be used for that purpose. Freight services at the station were withdrawn on 13 September 1965. A small locomotive depot was located on the up side. It closed in 1933. During the 1960s Tony Hocking was a booking clerk at the station, locally famous for invariably having a bottle of Vimto visible on the desk despite this being in contravention of the strict railway bylaws of the era. On 2 August 2015, a fire damaged some of the station buildings.
Part of the main goods yard was formerly a
Royal Mail
, kw, Postya Riel, ga, An Post Ríoga
, logo = Royal Mail.svg
, logo_size = 250px
, type = Public limited company
, traded_as =
, foundation =
, founder = Henry VIII
, location = London, England, UK
, key_people = * Keith Williams ...
sorting office
A sorting office or processing and distribution center (P&DC; name used by the United States Postal Service (USPS)) is any location where postal operators bring mail after collection for sorting into batches for delivery to the addressee, which ...
. The remainder is a car park for station users. A short siding from the down line to the west of platforms 2 and 3 is a remnant of tracks into the yard. The site of the up goods yard is now a car park.
Layout
The station is to the east of the
River Medway
The River Medway is a river in South East England. It rises in the High Weald AONB, High Weald, East Sussex and flows through Tonbridge, Maidstone and the Medway conurbation in Kent, before emptying into the Thames Estuary near Sheerness, a to ...
but it is clear from a map of the town that it is actually located at the northern end of Maidstone. The approach from the west is via a high level
truss bridge
A truss bridge is a bridge whose load-bearing superstructure is composed of a truss, a structure of connected elements, usually forming triangular units. The connected elements (typically straight) may be stressed from tension, compression, or ...
over the river, and a later
girder bridge
A girder bridge is a bridge that uses girders as the means of supporting its deck. The two most common types of modern steel girder bridges are plate and box.
The term "girder" is often used interchangeably with "beam" in reference to bridge de ...
over the
A229
A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes'' ...
.
Immediately east of the station is the portal to the Week Street tunnel.
The booking office, open for most of the operational day, is located at street level on Station Road, above the tunnel portal, with other offices on up platform 1 as well as a coffee shop. There are also offices on Platform 2.
The station has three platforms: 1 and 2 are through platforms capable of handling trains of up to 8 cars. Platform three is a
bay platform
In the United Kingdom and in Australia, a bay platform is a dead-end railway platform at a railway station that has through lines. It is normal for bay platforms to be shorter than their associated through platforms.
Overview
Bay and islan ...
on the north (
down line) side. Ramps lead down to the platforms on each side. A disused face to platform 1 shows the alignment of a former bay platform. A third track runs as a passing track through the station between the up and down lines.
A pedestrian walkway on the railway bridge provides a route to the
Medway Valley Line's
Maidstone Barracks
Invicta Park Barracks is a military installation in Maidstone, Kent.
History Maidstone Barracks
Permanent barracks were first established in Maidstone as part of the British response to the threat of the French Revolution in 1797. Maidstone Barr ...
station on the west of the river. Maidstone's third station,
Maidstone West, is south of Maidstone Barracks.
Development
There have been plans to redevelop the station for a number of years. In 2005
Network Rail
Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. Network Rail is an "arm's leng ...
announced that they were in talks with the
John Lewis Partnership
The John Lewis Partnership plc (JLP) is a British company which operates John Lewis & Partners department stores, Waitrose & Partners supermarkets, its banking and financial services, and other retail-related activities. The privately-held publ ...
who intended to build a large
Waitrose
Waitrose & Partners (formally Waitrose Limited) is a brand of British supermarkets, founded in 1904 as Waite, Rose & Taylor, later shortened to Waitrose. It was acquired in 1937 by employee-owned retailer John Lewis Partnership, which still se ...
supermarket on the site. However, in November of that year, the developer that had been working on the deal pulled out taking John Lewis with them.
The following year a new redevelopment in conjunction with supermarket chain
Asda
Asda Stores Ltd. () (often styled as ASDA) is a British supermarket chain. It is headquartered in Leeds, England. The company was founded in 1949 when the Asquith family merged their retail business with the Associated Dairies company of York ...
was proposed. This development included a store, hotel, 100 homes and parking for 515 cars. In 2007 it was reported that Asda were getting
cold feet
Cold feet is a phrase that refers to a person not going through with an action, particularly one which requires long term commitment, due to fear, uncertainty, and doubt. A person is said to be "getting cold feet" when, after previously committin ...
over the plans, although Asda stressed that talks were still ongoing, but in 2009 it was confirmed that Asda had withdrawn their interest due to their development of a site at the nearby St Peters' Street complex instead.
In November 2012, initial plans for the regeneration of Maidstone East Station were submitted to
Maidstone Borough Council
Maidstone is the largest town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies 32 miles (51 km) east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town, linking it with ...
to determine whether an Environmental Impact Assessment was required. MBC concluded in December 2012 that due to the additional road traffic, an assessment would be appropriate. Plans include a new railway station, new large foodstore, other retail units, bar, cafe, commuter and retail parking (approx 1100 spaces) and associated landscaping. The proposed plan involves the demolition of the existing station ticket office, a disused hotel/bar, retail units opposite County Hall and the adjacent former Royal Mail sorting and enquiry office.
Accidents
The station has been the site of two accidents involving freight trains.
In the first, on 17 July 1967, a slow-moving westbound train
passed a signal at danger
A signal passed at danger (SPAD), known in the United States as a stop signal overrun and in Canada as passing a stop signal, is an event on a railway where a train passes a stop signal without authority. In the United States and Canada, this ...
and ran into the rear of a stationary passenger train at the up platform causing damage to both trains but only interrupting services for a few hours.
The second, on 6 September 1993, was more significant. At 02:02, a freight
derailment
In rail transport, a derailment occurs when a rail vehicle such as a train comes off its rails. Although many derailments are minor, all result in temporary disruption of the proper operation of the railway system and they are a potentially ...
occurred. A train, comprising 15 goods wagons was travelling from
Dover
Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...
to
Willesden
Willesden () is an area of northwest London, situated 5 miles (8 km) northwest of Charing Cross. It is historically a parish in the county of Middlesex that was incorporated as the Municipal Borough of Willesden in 1933, and has formed ...
hauled by a
Class 47 locomotive 47 288, when, due to excessive speed, the locomotive's rear
bogie
A bogie ( ) (in some senses called a truck in North American English) is a chassis or framework that carries a wheelset, attached to a vehicle—a modular subassembly of wheels and axles. Bogies take various forms in various modes of transp ...
derailed in the tunnel approaching Maidstone East.
[ The train was travelling at when the speed limit was . The locomotive ended up on its side on the track. Several wagons left the track, running into signals, platforms and buildings, and spilling their load of 900 tons of steel cable. The driver subsequently failed a ]breathalyser
A breathalyzer or breathalyser (a portmanteau of ''breath'' and ''analyzer/analyser'') is a device for estimating blood alcohol content (BAC), or to detect viruses or diseases from a breath sample.
The name is a genericized trademark of the Br ...
test. The station remained closed for only a short period as a result of the accident.[www.railwaysarchive.co.uk]
– Provisional Report on the Derailment on 6 September 1993 at Maidstone East Station in the Southern Region, British Railways
Services
All services at Maidstone East are operated by 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 ...
using and 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:
* 1 tph to (stopping)
* 1 tph to London Charing Cross (semi-fast)
* 1 tph to
During the peak hours, the station is served by an additional hourly service between London Victoria and Ashford International.
On Sundays, the semi-fast services to London Charing Cross do not run.
See also
*Maidstone Barracks railway station
Maidstone Barracks railway station is one of three railway stations which serve the town of Maidstone in Kent, England. Originally opened as Barracks station, it is named after the nearby Invicta Park Barracks and lies on the Medway Valley Lin ...
, on the Medway Valley Line
*Maidstone West railway station
Maidstone West railway station is one of three railway stations which serve the town of Maidstone, in Kent, England. It is on the Medway Valley Line, from Charing Cross railway station, London Charing Cross via and situated between and . The ...
, on the Medway Valley Line
References
;Sources
*
External links
*
Kentrail.co.uk - Maidstone East
*
{{TSGN and SE Stations, Ashford=y, Maidstone=y, SN None=y
Railway stations in Kent
DfT Category C1 stations
Former London, Chatham and Dover Railway stations
Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1874
Railway stations served by Southeastern
Railway accidents and incidents in Kent
1874 establishments in England
Buildings and structures in Maidstone