Gravesend railway station

Gravesend railway station serves the town of Gravesend in north Kent; train services are operated by Southeastern. The station is 24 miles (38 km) from London Charing Cross. It has two central through lines for through freight trains and peak-time non-stopping passenger services and up and down loops that serve the two platforms.

History
The first railway to arrive in Gravesend was the Gravesend & Rochester Railway (G&RR) who had purchased the Thames and Medway Canal and its tunnel between Strood and Higham. The G&RR ran the first train to the then terminus at Gravesend (adjacent to the Canal Basin) on 10 February 1845. On 30 July 1849 the line was extended to North Kent East Junction on the South Eastern Railway (SER) and thence to London Bridge.

There was a second Gravesend station (in later years known as Gravesend West), opened by SER's rivals London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR). It was the end of a branch off the LCDR's main line and it allowed access to Victoria. journey times were uncompetitive and when the two companies merged in 1899, the branch was soon relegated to a secondary line and closed in 1968.

High speed HS1 services to London St Pancras International were introduced in December 2009 and proved highly successful. The station is now seen as a major interchange for metro and high speed services. It is noted that there is a far greater customer patronage for high speed services to London St Pancras International from Gravesend in comparison to nearby Ebbsfleet International, where usage is considered modest at best. This might be due (in part), to the sizeable London bound commuter population in and around Gravesham, as opposed to domestic passenger use at Ebbsfleet International, from elsewhere in North West Kent.

In December 2008, the local authority for Gravesend (Gravesham Council), were formally requested by Crossrail and the DfT, to sanction the revised Crossrail Safeguarding. This safeguarding provides for a potential service extension, from the current south of Thames terminus at Abbey Wood, to continue via North Kent Line to Gravesend station. The Crossrail route extension from Abbey Wood to Gravesend & Hoo Junction, remains on statute. With current services from Gravesend to London Bridge, London Waterloo East and London Charing Cross being supplemented by highspeed trains from the end of 2009 to London St Pancras, the potential in having Crossrail services from central London, London Heathrow, Maidenhead and/or Reading, terminating at Gravesend, would not only raise the station to hub status but greatly contribute towards the town's regeneration.

Future
Gravesend railway station is at the heart of the £75 million Gravesend Transport Quarter. The station is currently undergoing a major overhaul. Works include enlarged ticket halls, new baby changing facilities, revamp and reopening of the Gents WC on Platform 2, new indicator screens and additional space for retail opportunities. It is expected that in 2013 the station's track layout will be substantially altered. This is primarily for extending the current platforms to accommodate 12 coach trains as opposed to the present 10 coach limit. The current historic but narrow central footbridge, is to be replaced with a large sheltered bridge with lifts, at the London end of the station and serving 3 platforms. Platform 1 will be extended and converted to a London facing bay platform and renumbered as Platform '0'. A new single face central Platform 1 is to be located on the site of what will then be, the former Up 'through' road. Services from Medway and Faversham, including London bound high speed trains, will use this platform. This new platform will have bi directional workings and capability. The current Platform 2 shall remain numbered as '2', however, it will lose its turnback capability and thus will cater solely for coast bound services. Construction of the redevelopment started May 2013 and is expected to be completed by May 2014.

It likely that the Down Line serving Platform 2, will need to possess bi directional capability, in the medium or long term.

The station car park (and the adjoining vicinity), is to become a 6 storey major transport interchange building featuring a 396 space multi storey car park, a six-bay bus station, a large retail area inside the building, plus ticketing facilities for train, buses and Fastrack.

Services
The typical off-peak service from the station is:

Typical off-peak services are:
 * 2tph (trains per hour) to London St Pancras via Ebbsfleet International
 * 2tph to London Charing Cross via Dartford and Sidcup
 * 2tph to London Charing Cross via Dartford, Woolwich Arsenal and Lewisham
 * 2tph to Gillingham (Kent)
 * 2tph to Faversham
 * 4tpd using Class 395 Javelin units operate to St Pancras and Maidstone West via Strood.