Headcorn railway station
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Headcorn | |||
| Location | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Place | Headcorn | ||
| Local authority | Maidstone | ||
| Operations | |||
| Station code | HCN | ||
| Managed by | Southeastern | ||
| Platforms in use | 2 (formerly 3) | ||
| Live departures and station information from National Rail | |||
| Annual Rail Passenger Usage | |||
| 2004/05 * | 0.544 million | ||
| 2005/06 * | 0.564 million | ||
| History | |||
| 31 August 1842 | Opened [1] | ||
| 19 May 1905 | KESR branch opens[2] | ||
| 4 January 1954 | KESR branch closes[2] | ||
| National Rail - UK railway stations | |||
| * Annual passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Headcorn from Office of Rail Regulation statistics. | |||
|
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Headcorn railway station serves Headcorn in Kent. The station, and all trains serving it, is operated by Southeastern.
Contents |
[edit] Services
The typical off-peak service from the station is two trains per hour to Ashford International and two trains per hour to London Charing Cross.
| Preceding station | National Rail | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Staplehurst | Southeastern South Eastern Main Line |
Pluckley | ||
| Disused Railways | ||||
| Frittenden Road | British Rail Southern Region KESR |
Terminus | ||
[edit] History
Headcorn station was opened on the South Eastern Railways (SER) mainline in the year of that line's inauguration, 1842[3]. For the following 63 years it remained a simple mainline station, until in 1905 the Headcorn Extension of Colonel Stephens' Kent and East Sussex Railway (KESR) made Headcorn station his branch line's northern terminus.[2]
The Kent and East Sussex Railway connected Headcorn with Robertsbridge on the SER's Hastings Line via the Rother Valley, and gave the line's rural customers the opportunity to sell their goods to larger markets in the towns of Tonbridge, Ashford and Paddock Wood. The northern extension to Headcorn was subsidised by the South Eastern and Chatham Railway (SECR - SER's successor) [4].
Despite surviving until long after many similar lines, the Kent and East Sussex Railway suffered a massive fall in passenger numbers after World War II, and the line from Headcorn to Tenterden was eventually closed to all traffic on 2 January 1954.[2] The line was torn up along the actual route; but the platform, footbridge and track all still exist in the station itself, on the south side of the present-day mainline. The station and route to Tenterden are clearly visible on Google Earth, using the co-ordinates given at the top right of this article.
[edit] References
- ^ [1] Colonel Stephens Museum
- ^ a b c d Subterranea Brittanica, http://www.subbrit.org.uk/sb-sites/stations/h/headcorn/index.shtml ,URL accessed 11 June 2007
- ^ SER Lines and Stations, http://rail.felgall.com/ser.htm , URL accessed 11 June 2007
- ^ A summary history of the Kent & East Sussex Railway, http://www.kesr.org.uk/about_kesr/history.htm , URL accessed 11 June 2007
[edit] External links
- Train times and station information for Headcorn railway station from National Rail
