Paddock Wood railway station

Paddock Wood railway station serves the town of Paddock Wood in Kent. The station, and all trains serving it, is operated by Southeastern. There are three platforms.

History

The South Eastern Railway opened a line from Redhill to Ashford and on to Dover in 1842. This bypassed the county town of Maidstone, and a station named Maidstone Road was opened in a rural location on 31 August 1842 to serve the town, eight miles to the north. The village of Paddock Wood developed quickly around the station, which took the name Paddock Wood in 1844 when the branch line to Maidstone West was opened. Another branch line - the Hawkhurst Branch - to the village of Hawkhurst existed between 1892 and 1961.^[1]

The station has Up and Down platforms with a pair of fast lines between them. On the Down side, a bay platform is used for the Medway Valley Line services to Maidstone and beyond. A matching bay platform existed on the Up side when the Hawkhurst branch was in operation. The main station building is on the Up platform; there are long canopies on both platforms. Transfer between platforms is by footbridge.^[2]

Accidents

At 03:40 hrs on 5 May 1919, a goods train from Bricklayers Arms to Margate overran signals and ran into the back of another goods train just to the west of Paddock Wood station. The Margate train was hauled by C class No. 721. It had 50 goods vehicles including three brake vans. The other train was hauled by C class No. 61. The fireman of this train was killed in the accident. Although the main cause of the accident was the driver of the Margate train failing to obey signals, the signalman at Tonbridge East signal box was also censured for failure to give the driver adequate warning that although the train had been accepted by the signalman at Paddock Wood, the line was not clear. The signalman at Paddock Wood had accepted the train under Regulation No 5 - "Section clear but station or junction blocked".^[3]

At 02:02 on 8 December 1961, a goods train was setting back at Paddock Wood station when the 00:20 goods from Hoo Junction to Tonbridge overran signals and collided with it. The wreckage from the accident piled up under the bridge carrying the B2160 Maidstone Road. The line was blocked for 12 hours.^[4]

Services

As of May 2010 the typical off-peak service from the station is:

• 3tph (trains per hour) to Tonbridge, of which 2tph continue to London Charing Cross.^[5]
• 1tph to Dover Priory and Canterbury West (dividing at Ashford International)
• 1tph to Ramsgate via Dover and Canterbury, dividing at Ashford^[5]
• 1tph to Strood via Maidstone West and the Medway Valley Line.

Gallery

Bus connections

Routes 6, 203, 205 and 296 are available from stops near the station, see List of bus routes in Kent

References

1. ^ Body, Geoffrey. PSL Field Guide – Railways of the Southern Region (1984), page 142. Patrick Stephens Ltd, Cambridge. ISBN 0-85059-664-5
2. ^ Body, page 143.
3. ^ Earnshaw, Alan (1993). Trains in Trouble, Volume Eight. Penryn: Atlantic. pp. 8–9. ISBN 0-906899-52-4. 
4. ^ "Rail Crash: Inquiry begins". Tonbridge Free Press: pp. 1, 10. 15 December 1961. 
5. ^ ^{a b} Network Rail Timetable May 2010: Table 207

External links

• Train times and station information for Paddock Wood railway station from National Rail
• Paddock Wood station on navigable 1940 OS map