Kent Coast line
The Kent Coast Line is the railway line that runs from Dover Priory to Margate in the English county of Kent.
| Kent Coast Line | |
|---|---|
 The Kent Coast Line, shown with other railway lines in Kent. | |
| Overview | |
| Type | Suburban rail, Heavy rail |
| System | National Rail |
| Status | Operational |
| Locale | Kent South East England |
| Operation | |
| Owner | Network Rail |
| Rolling stock | |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge |
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It was electrified (750 V DC third rail) by BR under the 1955 Modernisation Plan.
Services
As of December 2019, the off-peak service is hourly each way between Dover Priory and Ramsgate, with trains at both ends continuing towards London St. Pancras via Ashford International and Faversham respectively. Services are operated by Southeastern using class 395 units.
During the morning peak trains additionally run from Ramsgate to Dover and then onto the South Eastern Main Line to Charing Cross or Cannon Street, returning in the evening peak. A small number of the peak services run to Minster on the Ashford to Ramsgate line before reversing back onto the coast line as a school service, running Ramsgate-Minster-Sandwich-Deal in the mornings and the reverse in the evenings.[1]
History
The South Eastern Railway's (SER) first main line went to Dover via Folkestone and Ashford. The SER Ashford to Margate Broadstairs and Ramsgate (via Canterbury West) line was then extended south to Deal. This was linked up by the "Dover & Deal Joint Railway" with their bitter rival the London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR).
Upon the joint management of the SER and LCDR in 1899 the track layout at Ashford rationalised, with Thanet receiving similar treatment (by Southern) in the 1920s.
The line was electrified under the BR 1955 Modernisation Plan, in "Kent Coast Electrification (Stage 2)" opening January 1961.
The building of the railway was significant in the development of seaside resorts like Broadstairs.
Dover track layout
The Railway Clearing House produced a map that shows the complex layout of this area. This shows the separate connection to the pier where trains used to board ferries.
