Chilham railway station is a railway station in

Chilham Chilham is a mostly agricultural village and parish in the English county of Kent with a clustered settlement, Chilham village centre, in the northeast, and a smaller linear settlement, Shottenden. Well-preserved roads and mostly residential list ...

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 ...

. It is on the

Ashford to Ramsgate line Ashford may refer to: Places Australia *Ashford, New South Wales *Ashford, South Australia *Electoral district of Ashford, South Australia Ireland *Ashford, County Wicklow * Ashford Castle, County Galway United Kingdom *Ashford, Kent, a town ** ...

between and . The station, and all trains serving it, 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 ...

History

The station was opened by the South Eastern Railway (SER) on 6 February 1846, as the first part of their line towards Thanet, which opened as far as on this date. There are level crossings near both ends of the station, since the SER were unsure about the levels of traffic on the line and decided to cross several roads at-grade instead of bridges. Trains that delayed cars at the crossings for more than five minutes would be fined. The station attracted attention from other railway companies. A proposal was put forward for a branch line from Chilham to , but rejected by the SER. In retrospect, this turned out to be a mistake as the

East Kent Railway The East Kent Railway (EKR) was an early railway operating between Strood and Faversham in Kent, England, during 1858 and 1859. In the latter year it changed its name to the London, Chatham and Dover Railway to reflect its ambitions to build a ...

, later to become the

London, Chatham & 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 no ...

(LCDR), built their own line to Faversham, competing with the SER for London - Thanet traffic. In response, the SER proposed building a line from its station at to Chilham across the River Medway and the

North Downs The North Downs are a ridge of chalk hills in south east England that stretch from Farnham in Surrey to the White Cliffs of Dover in Kent. Much of the North Downs comprises two Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs): the Surrey Hills a ...

, in order to cut demand for the LCDR. This plan was withdrawn after the SER realised such a scheme would probably involve also constructing a line from Canterbury to Dover. Goods services were withdrawn from the station on 15 August 1966.

Accidents and incidents

*On 20 October 1848, a fish and luggage train was derailed near Chilham when a bridge over the River Stour was washed away under it. All three crew were uninjured. *On 11 August 1858, an excursion train was derailed near Chilham. Three people were killed. * On 15 July 1970, an electric multiple unit was in collision with a

lorry A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame constructio ...

on an occupation crossing between and Chilham due to an error by the crossing keeper. The driver of the lorry and the guard of the train were killed. *On 26 July 2015, electric multiple unit 375703 was in collision with a herd of

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult ma ...

on the line between and Chilham. Two carriages were derailed. There were no injuries amongst the 70 passengers.

Services

All services at Chilham are operated by

using

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 London Charing Cross via * 1 tph to During the peak hours, the station is also served by trains to

London Cannon Street Cannon Street station, also known as London Cannon Street, is a central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in Travelcard zone 1 located on Cannon Street in the City of London and managed by Network Rail. It is ...

. The station is also served by a single early morning service to

London St Pancras International St Pancras railway station (), also known as London St Pancras or St Pancras International and officially since 2007 as London St Pancras International, is a central London railway terminus on Euston Road in the London Borough of Camden. It i ...

, operated by a EMU.

References

Citations Sources * * *

External links

Official report into 1858 accident
{{coord, 51.245, N, 0.976, E, type:railwaystation_region:GB, display=title Railway stations in Kent DfT Category F2 stations Transport in the Borough of Ashford Former South Eastern Railway (UK) stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1846 Railway stations served by Southeastern 1846 establishments in England