East Malling railway station

East Malling railway station serves the village of East Malling in Kent, and is close to Ditton, Larkfield and Leybourne. The station, and most trains serving it, are operated by Southeastern.

History
East Malling Halt opened in 1913. The station is at high level, adjacent to the railway bridge over the High Street, and the platforms are accessed by steps from street level: there are no lifts. Originally built of sleepers, the halt was rebuilt in concrete in the late 1950s. About a mile (1.6 km) east of the station, a siding served a small quarry in the 1930s. Further east still, were the two Preston Hall Tunnels, of 33 yd and 54 yd length. These had been removed by 1995.

The ticket office here closed by 1988; it was located in a wooden building on the up (London-bound) platform, where the part retained as a shelter continues in use. A PERTIS 'permit to travel' machine, located at road level at the foot of the steep staircase to the up platform, suffices. There is a metal shelter on the down platform, where extensive underpinning of the concrete platform took place in 2006. The platforms were extended in the late 1980s to take 8-car trains, having previously been of 6-car length only.

Services
The typical off-peak service from the station is one train per hour to Ashford International via Maidstone East and one train per hour to London Victoria.

There is also a peak hour service via Thameslink across London, serving City Thameslink, Farringdon and St Pancras International before travelling onto Bedford.