Chatham Main Line facts for kids

The Chatham Main Line is an important railway line in England. It connects London Victoria in London to the towns of Dover Priory and Ramsgate in Kent. This line passes through the Medway area, including the town of Chatham.

Train Services

Most trains on the Chatham Main Line are run by a company called Southeastern.

When trains travel between Bromley South and London Victoria, they can use a few different paths. Some go directly on the Main Line, passing through places like Beckenham Junction and Herne Hill. Other trains might take a different route called the Catford Loop Line, going through Catford and Peckham Rye.

As of December 2015, during quieter times of the day (off-peak), there are usually two trains every hour from Victoria. These trains stop at several stations including Bromley South, Longfield, Meopham, Rochester, Chatham, and Rainham.

• One of these trains continues to Dover Priory, stopping at stations like Newington, Sittingbourne, Teynham, Faversham, and Canterbury East.
• The other train goes to Margate and Ramsgate, with stops at Sittingbourne and Faversham.

There is also an hourly service from Victoria that uses the Catford Loop, stopping at Denmark Hill. This train then goes to Bromley South, St Mary Cray, and all stations up to Gillingham. From Gillingham, it becomes a faster service, stopping at fewer stations on its way to Dover Priory.

High Speed Services

There are also special High Speed trains that use parts of this line. Two of these trains run every hour from St Pancras International in London to Faversham. They travel through Gravesend and Chatham.

• One of these high-speed trains ends its journey at Faversham and then returns to St Pancras International.
• The other high-speed train continues along the coast, stopping at places like Whitstable, Herne Bay, Margate, and Ramsgate. It then carries on to Sandwich, Deal, Dover Priory, Folkestone Central, and Ashford International. From Ashford, it uses a special high-speed line back to London, stopping at Ebbsfleet International and Stratford International before reaching St Pancras International.

Repairs and Service Changes

In December 2015, railway engineers found a problem with the railway line between Dover Priory and Folkestone Central. A section of the sea wall that supported the tracks had been washed away by erosion. Because of this, trains could not use that part of the line.

During the repairs, special bus services replaced the trains between Dover Priory and Folkestone Central. High Speed trains that normally went to Dover Priory instead ended at Ramsgate, with another bus service connecting Ramsgate to Dover Priory.

After more than eight months of hard work, this section of the line was reopened on September 5, 2016. Since then, normal train services have started again.

Trains Used on the Line

The Chatham Main Line uses several types of trains. These include the Class 395 "Javelin", Class 375 "Electrostar", Class 465 "Networker", and Class 466 "Networker".

Class	Image	Type	Cars per set	Top speed		Number	Operator	Notes	Built
				mph	km/h
Class 395 Javelin		EMU	6	140 (HS1) 100 (Mainline)	225 (HS1) 160 (Mainline)	29	Southeastern	Used for high-speed services between Faversham and St.Pancras International during busy times.	2007–2009
Class 375			3 or 4	100	160	140			1999–2005
Class 465 / 466		EMU	4 (465) 2 (466)	75	120	145 (465) 43 (466)			1992

Gallery

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  A Network SouthEast Class 415 at Beckenham in April 1994

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  A Connex South Eastern Class 365 at London Victoria in March 2003

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  A Southeastern Class 375 at Bromley South in April 2011

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  A Class 466 at London Victoria in June 2009

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  Chatham railway station car park and tunnel

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  A Southeastern Class 375 at the Gillingham Depot

Related pages

• South Eastern Main Line

Images for kids

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  A Class 375, near Farningham Road

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  A 1908 Railway Clearing House map of Chatham Main Line and surrounding lines between Beckenham Jct and Herne Hill

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  A 1908 Railway Clearing House map showing the two different routes of the Chatham Main Line in South London

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  A 1908 Railway Clearing House map of the end of the Dover branch of the Chatham Main Line

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  A 1912 Railway Clearing House map of the line's final approaches to Victoria