Rochester railway station

This article is about the railway station in the United Kingdom. For other uses, see Rochester railway station (disambiguation).

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
General information
Location	Rochester, Borough of Medway England
Coordinates	51°23′21″N 0°30′25″E / 51.38904°N 0.50689°E / 51.38904; 0.50689Coordinates: 51°23′21″N 0°30′25″E / 51.38904°N 0.50689°E / 51.38904; 0.50689
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
2017/18	1.817 million
Interchange	30,296
2018/19	2.057 million
Interchange	30,417
2019/20	2.122 million
Interchange	33,003
2020/21	0.585 million
Interchange	10,336
2021/22	1.458 million
Interchange	22,799
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 (1,600 ft) 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 (890-long-ton; 990-short-ton) 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

v t e Medway Towns
Legend
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

Services at Rochester are operated by Southeastern and Thameslink using Class 375, 395, 465, 466 and 700 EMUs.

The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is:^[5]

• 1 tph to London St Pancras International
• 3 tph to London Victoria (2 of these run non-stop from Bromley South and 1 runs via Denmark Hill)
• 2 tph to Luton via Dartford and Greenwich
• 1 tph to Gillingham
• 2 tph to Rainham
• 1 tph to Dover Priory via Canterbury East
• 2 tph to Ramsgate

Additional services including trains to and from London Bridge and London Cannon Street call at the station in the peak hours.

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Sole Street		Southeastern Chatham Main Line		Chatham
Meopham		Southeastern Chatham Main Line
Strood		Southeastern High Speed 1
		Thameslink North Kent Line
London Bridge		Southeastern South Eastern Main Line (via Chislehurst Junction) Peak Hours only
	Disused railways
Rochester Bridge Line and station closed		London, Chatham and Dover Railway Chatham Main Line		Chatham Line and station open

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. Table 194, 200, 201, 212 National Rail timetable, December 2021

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rochester railway station.

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