Sevenoaks railway station is a

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...

on the

South Eastern Main Line The South Eastern Main Line is a major long-distance railway route in South East England, UK, one of the three main routes crossing the county of Kent, going via Sevenoaks, Tonbridge, Ashford and Folkestone to Dover. The other routes are the ...

in England, serving the town of

Sevenoaks Sevenoaks is a town in Kent with a population of 29,506 situated south-east of London, England. Also classified as a civil parish, Sevenoaks is served by a commuter main line railway into London. Sevenoaks is from Charing Cross, the traditio ...

, Kent. It is down the line from London Charing Cross and is situated between and stations. Trains calling at the station are operated by Southeastern and

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 ...

. Trains from the station run northbound to London Bridge,

Cannon Street Cannon Street is a road in the City of London, the historic nucleus of London and its modern financial centre. It runs roughly parallel with the River Thames, about north of it, in the south of the City. It is the site of the ancient London ...

, Waterloo East and Charing Cross via Orpington, or to Blackfriars via

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 ...

and Catford; and southbound to Ashford International and Ramsgate via Dover Priory, or

Tunbridge Wells Royal Tunbridge Wells is a town in Kent, England, southeast of central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the High Weald, whose sandstone geology is exemplified by the rock formation High Rocks. T ...

and

Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...

History

Sevenoaks railway station was opened on 2 March 1868. It was formerly known as ''"Tubs Hill"'', after the adjacent area. There is a second station, on the branch to Swanley Junction, which opened on 2 June 1862. The station is named after the Bat & Ball local inn which is now closed, and serves the north end of the town. The two lines to Sevenoaks were

electrified Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source. The broad meaning of the term, such as in the history of technology, economic history ...

in January 1935. When the station was reconstructed in the 1970s a new ticket office was built replacing the old wooden S.E.R. building. The largest version of the Southern Region D70 type glass box station, this reconstruction was designed by regional architect Nigel Wikeley. Two additional side platforms were also abolished. Sevenoaks is part of the rail franchise which, post- privatisation, was served by

Connex South Eastern Connex South Eastern was a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by Connex that operated the South Eastern franchise from October 1996 until November 2003. History On 13 October 1996 Connex commenced operating the South Easter ...

. Subsequent to their 'sacking' in 2003 due to poor financial management (although their train operating performance had been very poor), services were operated by

South Eastern Trains South Eastern Trains (stylised as Southeastern) was a publicly owned train operating company that operated the South Eastern Passenger Rail Franchise between November 2003, when it took over from Connex South Eastern, and 1 April 2006, when S ...

, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Strategic Rail Authority. On 1 April 2006, Southeastern, owned by

Govia Govia is a transport company based in the United Kingdom. It was formed in November 1996 as a joint venture between Go-Ahead Group (65%) and Keolis (35%) to bid for rail franchises during the privatisation of British Rail. History Establi ...

, took over management of the station as part of the new Integrated Kent Franchise.

Accidents

7 June 1884 - A double-headed freight train ran into the rear of another freight train at Tub's Hill station. Both crew of the first train were killed. The signalman was charged with causing their deaths. The trains were being worked under the time interval system. 24 August 1927 - the

Sevenoaks railway accident The Sevenoaks railway accident occurred on 24 August 1927 between Dunton Green railway station and Sevenoaks railway station. The Southern Railway's afternoon express from Cannon Street to Deal left London at 5 pm, hauled by River Class tank ...

. River class

tank locomotive A tank locomotive or tank engine is a steam locomotive that carries its water in one or more on-board water tanks, instead of a more traditional tender. Most tank engines also have bunkers (or fuel tanks) to hold fuel; in a tender-tank locom ...

No. 800 ''

River Cray The River Cray is the largest tributary of the Darent. It is the prime river of outer, south-east Greater London, rising in Priory Gardens, Orpington, where rainwater percolates through the chalk bedrock of the Downs to form a pond where the ...

'' derailed at Shoreham Lane between

Dunton Green Dunton Green is a small village and civil parish in the Sevenoaks District of Kent, England. It lies in the valley of the River Darent, north of the town of Sevenoaks. Dunton Green is designated as being part of the Kent Downs area of outstandin ...

and Sevenoaks. Thirteen people were killed and 20 were injured. The locomotives were withdrawn and rebuilt as

tender locomotive A tender or coal-car (US only) is a special rail vehicle hauled by a steam locomotive containing its fuel (wood, coal, oil or torrefied biomass) and water. Steam locomotives consume large quantities of water compared to the quantity of fuel, s ...

Platforms and Services

Sevenoaks Station Platform 3 Looking South

Platforms

There are two island platforms – 1 & 2, and 3 & 4. *Platform 1 – Northbound fast trains (through Dunton Green) fast to London Bridge, Waterloo East, London Charing Cross and London Cannon Street *Platform 2 – Slow trains starting/terminating at Sevenoaks (through Dunton Green) to London Charing Cross and London Cannon Street via Orpington and Lewisham *Platform 3 – Southbound trains via Tonbridge (destinations are Tunbridge Wells, Hastings, Ashford International, Canterbury and Ramsgate) *Platform 4 – Thameslink trains (through Bat & Ball), which all start/terminate here

Services

Services at Sevenoaks are operated by Southeastern and

using , , , and EMUs. The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is: * 4 tph to London Charing Cross (2 of these run non-stop to and 2 stop at only) * 2 tph to London Charing Cross via and (stopping) * 2 tph to London Blackfriars via * 2 tph to via (1 semi-fast, 1 stopping) * 1 tph to * 1 tph to via During the peak hours, the station is served by an additional half-hourly between London Charing Cross and Tunbridge Wells. There are also additional services to and from London Cannon Street and the service to Dover Priory is extended to and from Ramsgate via . In addition, the service to London Blackfriars is extended to and from via .

Passenger Representation

The not-for-profit Sevenoaks Rail Travellers' Association (SRTA) corresponds and meets with Southeastern Railway, TfL, the DfT, MPs and other relevant parties to represent the interests of passengers using Sevenoaks and stations nearby – Bat & Ball, Dunton Green, Eynsford, Kemsing, Otford, and Shoreham.

References

External links

{{coord, 51, 16, 35, N, 0, 10, 54, E, type:railwaystation_region:GB, display=title Buildings and structures in Sevenoaks Railway stations in Kent DfT Category B stations Former South Eastern Railway (UK) stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1868 Railway stations served by Southeastern Railway stations served by Govia Thameslink Railway