North Kent Line

London Charing Cross – Rochester
Route length:	48 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Power system :	750 V  =
Dual track :	Yes
Legend London Charing Cross Hungerford Bridge over Thames Connecting track to the SWML Waterloo East Blackfriars Road Thameslink from Blackfriars London Cannon Street London Bridge Spa Road closed in 1915 Southwark Park closed in 1915 ISLL to Victoria / BML to Brighton Bricklayers Arms Greenwich Line to Greenwich / Charlton New Cross St. Johns from Victoria to Hayes and SEML to Dover Priory Lewisham to Hayes and SEML to Dover Blackheath Bexleyheath Line to Dartford Blackheath Tunnel (1600 m) Greenwich Line from London Bridge / Greenwich Charlton Charlton Tunnel Mount Street Tunnel Dockyard tunnel Woolwich Dockyard Coleman Street Tunnel George IV tunnel Calderwood Street Tunnel Cross Street Tunnel Woolwich Arsenal Plumstead Church Manor Way Crossrail from Reading (from 2018) Abbey Wood Belvedere Erith Slade Green Bexleyheath Line Dartford Loop Line (to the SEML) Dartford Stone Crossing Greenhithe for Bluewater Greenhithe tunnel Swanscombe Northfleet to the High Speed ​​One Gravesend Milton Road The tone Milton Range Hoo Junction Hundred of Hoo Railway to the Hoo Peninsula Highham Strodd & Highham Tunnel (3500 m) Strood Medway Valley Line to Paddock Wood Chatham Main Line from London Victoria Rochester Bridge ( Medway ) to Chatham Central Rochester Chatham Main Line to Dover

The North Kent Line is a railway line that runs between London and Rochester in North Kent and is one of the various variants of a rail connection between Dover and London ( South Eastern Main Line , Chatham Main Line ). The route is mainly used by Southeastern trains.

history

After the South Eastern Railway was prevented from extending the Greenwich Line towards south-east England due to a legal dispute with Greenwich Hospital , it decided to build a new main line from Lewisham to Gravesend . Lewisham was already connected to central London by the South Eastern Main Line . The line between Lewisham and Gravesend went into operation on April 30, 1849. The Gravesend – Stroods railway line following the Thames and Medway Canal was opened to traffic four years earlier . The SER then bought the canal, had it filled up and expanded the railway line to double track. From 1873 the NKL station in Charlton became a branch line to Maze Hill, before the gap was closed by a tunnel to Greenwich in 1878. Despite this second rail route, the North Kent Line remained the more important connection. On June 6, 1926, the section between London and Dartford was electrified with a conductor rail with 750 volts direct current, until 1930 the section to Gravesend, the remaining section of the NKL to Rochester and the continuation of the CML to Gillingham followed in World War II . With the construction of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link , today High Speed ​​One , a short connection route from Gravesend to Ebbsfleet International station was built in 2006 , which is now being used as planned.

business

The operation is carried out by Southeastern, the travel time between Charing Cross and Gravesend is 51 minutes. Trains run from Charing Cross and Cannon Streets to Dartford, Slade Green , Gravesend and Gillingham, with trains departing from Cannon Street via Greenwich instead of Lewisham. A total of 12 trains per hour run in one direction. In addition, since High Speed ​​One opened, class 395 high-speed trains have been running every half hour between St Pancras and Faversham , using the connecting route between High Speed ​​One and the North Kent Line and then the NKL to Rochester before starting their journey on the Chatham Main Line continue. They serve the stations of Gravesend, Strood and Rochester on the NKL.

Connections

The North Kent Line is connected to numerous other transport systems, particularly in the London metropolitan area. In Lewisham and Woolwich Arsenal there are two transfer options to the Docklands Light Railway and in New Cross the East London Line of the London Overground , which offers connections to Highbury & Islington , among other things . In addition, the Waterloo East Station provides access to a few meters southern Waterloo Station at, just a transition to underground -Station Southwark of the Jubilee Line . There are other crossings to the underground at Charing Cross, Cannon Street and London Bridge.

Accidents

On June 18, 1857 at around 9:30 p.m., two trains, each coming from Strood, collided with each other around 220 meters in front of Lewisham station in front of a stop signal. The train in front was 15 minutes late when the signal forced it to stop. To warn the punctually following train immediately after, a track worker ran to the back, waving a red lantern. However, he was not seen by the train driver, so he crashed into the stationary train. In the accident, eleven people lost their lives and 30 were injured.

future

Crossrail

From December 2018, Abbey Wood station will be the southeastern terminus of Crossrail . The new railway line then branches off to the left immediately after the station and will also have a Woolwich station not far from the Woolwich Dockyard and Woolwich Arsenal stations. Crossrail operations may be extended to Gravesend in 2020, which would mean that Gravesend station would be accessible from eight of London's major train stations - Crossrail serves underground through stations in Liverpool Street and Paddington . After the extension, today's local trains Charing Cross-Gravesend would be discontinued.

Thameslink

As of 2014, the Thameslink program plans to take over individual trains ; the trains would then run through the Snow Hill Tunnel to St Pancras and on to Bedford instead of Charing Cross .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ http://gres.org.uk/page27.html  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
2. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from March 7, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
3. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from September 16, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
4. ↑ http://www.purecollector.com/history/wilson_railway_accidents.html
5. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from June 25, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.