Pluckley railway station

Pluckley railway station is on the South Eastern Main Line in England, serving the village of Pluckley, Kent, which is approximately 1.2 miles (2 km) to the north. It is 50 miles 35 chains (81.2 km) down the line from London Charing Cross. The station and all trains that call are operated by Southeastern.

Pluckley
Location	Pluckley, Borough of Ashford England
Grid reference	TQ922432
Managed by	Southeastern
Platforms	2
Other information
Station code	PLC
Classification	DfT category E
History
Opened	1 December 1842
Passengers
2015/16	0.109 million
2016/17	0.111 million
2017/18	0.114 million
2018/19	0.120 million
2019/20	0.123 million
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Facilities

The station features staggered platforms, whereby the 'up' (London-bound) platform is mostly west of the eastbound platform (on which the station buildings are situated). A footbridge links the platforms.[1]

The ticket office is manned only part-time; at other times a ticket vending machine is available.[2]

History

The station opened with this section of the line by the South Eastern Railway on 1 December 1842, when the line was extended from Headcorn to Ashford.[3][4] The first train passed through the station on this date at 12.05pm to cheers from the local crowd.[5] It was originally built to serve Pluckley Brick & Tile Works to the west of the station,[6] and subsequently used as a freight depot for the Southwark Manure Company, transporting horse manure from London to use on Kent farms.[7]

Goods services closed on 20 September 1965, and the signal box was taken out of service on 17 December 1967. The station buildings have mostly survived unaltered from their original construction.[8]

Services

As of December 2019, the off-peak service at the station in trains per hour is:[9]

• 2 tph to London Charing Cross via Tonbridge
• 1 tph to Dover Priory
• 1 tph to Ramsgate via Canterbury West

There are also peak hour services to London Cannon Street

References

Citations

1. Mitchell & Smith 1990, Fig.106 and picture.
2. "Pluckley". SouthEastern. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
3. Butt 1995, p. 186.
4. Mitchell & Smith 1990, Historical Information.
5. Gray 1990, p. 19.
6. Mitchell & Smith 1990, Pluckley - Map.
7. Gray 1990, p. 145.
8. Mitchell & Smith 1990, Figs. 106-107.
9. "Timetable 1 - London and Tonbridge to Ashford International, Canterbury West, Folkestone, Dover, Ramsgate and Margate" (PDF). SouthEastern. Retrieved 7 March 2020.

Sources

• Butt, R. V. J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199.
• Gray, Adrian (1990). South Eastern Railway. Middleton Press. ISBN 978-0-906520-85-7.
• Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (1990). Redhill to Ashford. Middleton Press. ISBN 0-906520-73-8.

External links

• Train times and station information for Pluckley railway station from National Rail