Birchington-on-Sea railway station

Birchington-on-Sea
Location
Place	Birchington-on-Sea
Local authority	Thanet
Coordinates	51°22′37″N 1°18′04″E / 51.377°N 1.301°E / 51.377; 1.301Coordinates: 51°22′37″N 1°18′04″E / 51.377°N 1.301°E / 51.377; 1.301
Grid reference	TR298694
Operations
Station code	BCH
Managed by	Southeastern.
Number of platforms	2
Live arrivals/departures and station information from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2004/05	0.229 million
2005/06	0.250 million
2006/07	0.258 million
2007/08	0.272 million
2008/09	0.286 million
2009/10	0.274 million
2010/11	0.267 million
History
Original company	Kent Coast Railway
Pre-grouping	South Eastern and Chatham Railway
Post-grouping	Southern Railway
5 October 1863 (1863-10-05)	Opened as Birchington
October 1878	Renamed Birchington-on-Sea
National Rail – UK railway stations
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Birchington-on-Sea from Office of Rail Regulation statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Birchington-on-Sea railway station is on the Chatham Main Line in north Kent, England, and serves the town of Birchington-on-Sea. Train services are provided by Southeastern.

The station is located at one end of the High Street about 800m from the Village Square. Buses operate from here to Minnis Bay and Margate on weekdays during core hours, at other times buses can be caught from the village square. Taxi Services are available with numbers displayed on posters at the station.

History

The station was opened on 5 October 1863 by the Kent Coast Railway (KCR).^[1] The KCR was operated by the London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR), which absorbed the KCR on 1 July 1871,^[2] and the station was renamed Birchington-on-Sea by the LCDR in October 1878.^[1] From the start of 1899, the LCDR's services were operated by the newly formed South Eastern and Chatham Railway, which the LCDR co-owned with the South Eastern Railway (SER). At the start of 1923, the LCDR amalgamated with other railways (including the SER) to form the Southern Railway. A small goods yard was situated on the Up London bound side of the station which closed in the 1970s and operated by the signalbox located midway on the down platform closed about the same time during a resignalling programme. The wire and rod cutout can still be seen within the brick face of the down platform. The 2007 Budget plan of Network Rail allows for the removal of the remaining manual turnround and it is believed short residual siding occasionally used for storing tamping track maintenance units, 'tampers'.

Birchington-on-Sea Station in 1963

A junction existed to the west of the station to serve RAF Manston^[3] until the 1930s operated from a Ground Frame Birchington B located some 400m upside of the station - a plan of which can be seen in the RAF Manston Museum.

Services

The typical off-peak service from the station is two trains per hour to London Victoria via the Medway Towns and Bromley South, and two trains per hour to Ramsgate via Margate.

Since 13 December 2009 this station has been served during peak hours by fast trains travelling over High Speed 1 to London St Pancras.

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Herne Bay		Southeastern Chatham Main Line - Ramsgate Branch		Westgate-on-Sea
Herne Bay		Southeastern High Speed 1 Peak Hours Only London-Broadstairs		Margate

References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. p. 34. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508. 
2. ↑ Awdry, Christopher (1990). Encyclopaedia of British Railway Companies. London: Guild Publishing. p. 189. CN 8983. 
3. ↑ McCarthy, Colin; McCarthy, David (October 2007). Waller, Peter, ed. Railways of Britain: Kent and Sussex. Hersham: Ian Allan. map 8, section B5. ISBN 978-0-7110-3222-4. 0710/C1. 

External links

• Train times and station information for Birchington-on-Sea railway station from National Rail