Bat & Ball railway station

Bat & Ball railway station is located on Bat & Ball Road in Sevenoaks in Kent, England. It is 25 miles 51 chains (41.3 km) measured from London Victoria (although London-bound trains that call run to Blackfriars). The station is managed by Southeastern, however, all train services that call are operated by Thameslink.

Bat & Ball
Location
PlaceSevenoaks
Local authorityDistrict of Sevenoaks
Coordinates51.2899°N 0.1942°E / 51.2899; 0.1942
Grid referenceTQ530568
Operations
Station codeBBL
Managed bySoutheastern
Number of platforms2
DfT categoryF2
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections
from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2014/15 83,866
2015/16 88,946
2016/17 102,356
2017/18 128,908
2018/19 130,830
History
Original companySevenoaks, Maidstone and Tonbridge Railway
Pre-groupingSE&CRCJMC
Post-groupingSouthern Railway
2 June 1862Opened as Sevenoaks[1]
1 August 1869Renamed Sevenoaks Bat & Ball[1]
1 January 1917Closed[1]
1 March 1919Reopened[1]
5 June 1950Renamed Bat & Ball[2]
National Rail – UK railway stations
  • Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Bat & Ball from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.

History

The station opened in 1862 with the name "Sevenoaks".[1] It was for a while named "Sevenoaks Bat & Ball", but was renamed in 1950 to its current name.[2] The name derives from the Bat & Ball Inn, a pub which no longer exists.

A long lease of the Grade II listed station building was acquired by Sevenoaks Town Council in 2017 as part of a refurbishment project supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund.[3] Works began March 2018 with an anticipated opening date of January 2019.[4]

The station in 1962

Facilities

Bat & Ball station lies just to the north of Sevenoaks on the route from London to Swanley via Otford. There is a shelter containing a bench on the northbound platform, and in 2014 new benches and a public information speaker were installed on the southbound platform (towards Sevenoaks). The station has been unstaffed since the closure of the booking office on 30 November 1991, although its staffing levels had been sporadic prior to that date. Southeastern, the company that currently manages the station, has fitted an electronic screen displaying departure information.

The station has a car park. Once free, in 2010 a fee of £3 per day to park was introduced. The charges resulted in the displacement of parking by rail commuters from the station car park into surrounding residential streets, particularly Chatham Hill Road. According to local press, this created several parking problems for local residents, whilst leaving the station's car park almost deserted.[5]

A PERTIS "permit to travel" machine was formerly located at the entrance to the southbound platform, later replaced by a card payment-only ticket machine in 2016. Prior to de-staffing in 1991, it had converted from the previous NCR21 card ticket system to APTIS on 12 April 1988. A rare misprint on some tickets issued just after conversion to APTIS rendered the station name as "BAT BALL".

As part of the refurbishment project undertaken by Sevenoaks Town Council the station building will house a public cafe, public toilets, and community meeting rooms, due to open January 2019.[6]

Service

Despite being managed by Southeastern, all services at Bat & Ball are opetated by Thameslink. The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is:[7]

Preceding station National Rail Following station
Thameslink
Disused railways
Terminus   London, Chatham and Dover Railway
Maidstone Line		   Otford Junction
Terminus   London, Chatham and Dover Railway
Maidstone Line		   Kemsing

References

Notes
  1. Butt (1995), page 208
  2. Butt (1995), page 29
  3. "Station (Timeline) - Bat & Ball Station". www.batandballstation.com. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
  4. King, Debbie (27 March 2018). "Work starts on £1.3 million station make-over". kentlive. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
  5. "Residents' fury as commuters' cars clog roads". Kent and Sussex Courier. Local World Limited. 12 November 2010. Archived from the original on 22 December 2014. Retrieved 22 December 2014.
  6. "HLF Restoration Project - Bat & Ball Station". www.batandballstation.com. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
  7. "Timetable 03: London to Orpington and Sevenoaks" (PDF). Thameslink, December 2019.

Sources
  • Butt, R. V. J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199.
  • Jowett, Alan (March 1989). Jowett's Railway Atlas of Great Britain and Ireland: From Pre-Grouping to the Present Day (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-086-0. OCLC 22311137.
  • Jowett, Alan (2000). Jowett's Nationalised Railway Atlas (1st ed.). Penryn, Cornwall: Atlantic Transport Publishers. ISBN 978-0-906899-99-1. OCLC 228266687.
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