Rochester railway station

Rochester railway station is on the Chatham Main Line in England, serving the town of Rochester, Kent. It is 33 miles 61 chains (54.3 km) down the line from London Victoria and is situated between Sole Street and Chatham.

Rochester
Rochester station building opened on 13 December 2015
Location	Rochester, Borough of Medway England
Coordinates	51.38904°N 0.50689°E
Grid reference	TQ745684
Managed by	Southeastern
Platforms	3
Other information
Station code	RTR
Classification	DfT category D
Key dates
1 March 1892	Opened
13 December 2015	Resited
Passengers
2015/16	1.385 million
Interchange	45,610
2016/17	1.632 million
Interchange	25,575
2017/18	1.817 million
Interchange	30,296
2018/19	2.057 million
Interchange	30,417
2019/20	2.122 million
Interchange	33,003
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

The station and most trains that call are operated by Southeastern and Thameslink, including a handful of peak services to and from Bedford operated by the latter.

In December 2015 a new station on Corporation Street opened 500 metres to the west of the original station which it replaced. It is now closer to the town centre and its historic buildings.

Original station

The first station opened as part of the East Kent Railway in 1892. It was set back some distance from the High Street to the east of the busy junction at Star Hill, and access to the platforms was via tunnels from the ticket office.

New station

On 16 January 2014 Gallagher Ltd cast the reinforced concrete base slab for a new subway for the station.[1] A little over a year later, on 26 January 2015, Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin was given a tour of the site, and was quoted as saying, "Rochester’s new station will be a big improvement for this historic town. It will benefit commuters and visitors thanks to longer trains and more seats for passengers.".[2] According to the billboards adjoining the station site, the 900-tonne concrete subway was to be the first part of the project to be completed; this was scheduled took place over Easter 2015.[3] Office of Rail Regulation confirmation of the closure of the old station were exhibited at Charing Cross station and elsewhere in October 2015.[4]

• 
  Rochester (original) station building closed on 13 December 2015.
• 
  Under construction platforms (on the left) and the large entrance hall (on the right).

Layout

Platform 1 serves trains towards Strood, Gravesend, Ebbsfleet International, Dartford, Meopham, Bromley South into London.

Platform 2 serves trains towards Gillingham, Faversham, Margate, Ramsgate, Canterbury East, Dover Priory, and Ashford International via Sandwich and Deal.

Platform 3 has now opened up at a through platform, service trains towards Gillingham, Faversham, Ashford International and the Kent Coast. Trains can also terminate here before heading back towards London. As the through line runs all the way through Platform 4 of the old Rochester station, it can be used to hold long freight services to allow passenger services to pass, removing a bottleneck.

Service

Medway Towns
North Kent Line & HS1 to London Bridge & St Pancras Chatham Main Line to Victoria & Blackfriars Medway Valley Line to Maidstone West Halling Cuxton Strood Rochester Bridge│Strood (1st) Rochester Bridge Goods station Rochester Common Rochester (2015–) Rochester (1892–2015) Chatham Central River Medway Chatham Gillingham Rainham Chatham Main Line to Faversham, Dover & Ramsgate

As of December 2019, the off-peak service at the station in trains per hour is:[5][6]

Southeastern - High Speed

• 2 tph to London St Pancras International via Gravesend
• 1 tph to London St Pancras International via Ramsgate, Dover Priory and Ashford International
• 1 tph to Faversham

Southeastern - Mainline

• 2 tph to London Victoria (semi-fast)
• 1 tph to London Victoria via Denmark Hill
• 1 tph to Ramsgate
• 2 tph to Dover Priory via Canterbury East

Thameslink

• 2 tph to Luton via Dartford and Greenwich
• 2 tph to Rainham

References

1. "Reinforced concrete base slab cast at new Rochester Station". gallagher-group.co.uk. 16 January 2014. Retrieved 31 January 2014.
2. "Rochester railway station taking shape as transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin given tour". kentonline.co.uk. 8 April 2013. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
3. "Rochester's new station on the way". networkrail.co.uk. 14 April 2014. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
4. "Consultation outcome, Rochester railway station: closure". gov.uk. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
5. "Timetable 2 - London to The Medway Towns, Ramsgate and Dover" (PDF). Southeastern, December 2019.
6. "Timetable 06 - Luton to Dartford and Rainham" (PDF). Thameslink, December 2019.

External links

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