Swale is a single platform station with one curving platform. It is immediately adjacent to the A249 road which is on a flyover above the station before it crosses The Swale on the Sheppey Crossing. The station is named after The Swale, the channel which separates the Isle of Sheppey from the mainland and connects with the River Medway to the west and Thames Estuary to the west. North of the station, the railway line crosses the channel on the Kingsferry Bridge. Ridham Dock lies 1 mile (1.6 km) south-east of the station.
Swale Station was, for many years, the least-used station in Kent,[2] until, in the 2021/22 statistics, it was overtaken by Kemsing.
Historyedit
The station was opened in 1913 as a staff halt, called Kings Ferry Bridge Halt.[3] On 17 December 1922, the Norwegian cargo ship Gyp collided with the Kingsferry Bridge,[4] rendering it unfit for rail traffic, and the station was renamed Kings Ferry Bridge South Halt, and opened to the public, who were able to walk across the bridge to a temporary station at Kings Ferry Bridge North Halt to continue their journeys.
This arrangement continued until 1 November 1923, when the bridge reopened to traffic and the North halt closed. The station was renamed Kings Ferry Bridge Halt on this date. The name was changed to Swale Halt in 1929. With the building of the new Kingsferry Bridge in 1960, a new station was constructed by British Railways on a different alignment, opening on 20 April 1960.[3]
In 2005 the idea of closing Swale station, or at least replacing its train service with a token service (e.g. one train a week in either direction), was proposed by the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA)[5] but rejected.
swale, railway, station, north, kent, england, sheerness, line, miles, chains, from, london, victoria, southern, kingsferry, bridge, which, along, with, more, modern, sheppey, crossing, connects, isle, sheppey, mainland, kent, nearest, settlement, iwade, train. Swale railway station is in north Kent England on the Sheerness Line 47 miles 15 chains 75 9 km from London Victoria at the southern end of the Kingsferry Bridge which along with the more modern Sheppey Crossing connects the Isle of Sheppey to mainland Kent The nearest settlement is Iwade Train services are provided by Southeastern SwaleSwale Station with the Sheppey Crossing in the backgroundGeneral informationLocationKingsferry Bridge Iwade SwaleEnglandGrid referenceTQ912691Managed bySoutheasternPlatforms1Other informationStation codeSWLClassificationDfT category F2Key dates25 November 1913 1 Staff halt opened as Kings Ferry Bridge HaltDecember 1922Opened to passengers as Kings Ferry Bridge South Halt1 November 1923Renamed Kings Ferry Bridge Halt1929Renamed Swale Halt20 April 1960New station opened on different sitePassengers2018 197 4702019 208 0442020 213 1422021 2210 1542022 2311 280NotesPassenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road Contents 1 Facilities 2 History 3 Services 4 References 5 External linksFacilities edit nbsp Map of the Swale Railway Station in relation to other local stations and the Sittingbourne amp Kemsley Light Railway The Chatham Main Line runs along the bottom east to west while the Sheerness Line branches off northwards west of Sittingbourne Swale is a single platform station with one curving platform It is immediately adjacent to the A249 road which is on a flyover above the station before it crosses The Swale on the Sheppey Crossing The station is named after The Swale the channel which separates the Isle of Sheppey from the mainland and connects with the River Medway to the west and Thames Estuary to the west North of the station the railway line crosses the channel on the Kingsferry Bridge Ridham Dock lies 1 mile 1 6 km south east of the station Swale Station was for many years the least used station in Kent 2 until in the 2021 22 statistics it was overtaken by Kemsing History editThe station was opened in 1913 as a staff halt called Kings Ferry Bridge Halt 3 On 17 December 1922 the Norwegian cargo ship Gyp collided with the Kingsferry Bridge 4 rendering it unfit for rail traffic and the station was renamed Kings Ferry Bridge South Halt and opened to the public who were able to walk across the bridge to a temporary station at Kings Ferry Bridge North Halt to continue their journeys This arrangement continued until 1 November 1923 when the bridge reopened to traffic and the North halt closed The station was renamed Kings Ferry Bridge Halt on this date The name was changed to Swale Halt in 1929 With the building of the new Kingsferry Bridge in 1960 a new station was constructed by British Railways on a different alignment opening on 20 April 1960 3 In 2005 the idea of closing Swale station or at least replacing its train service with a token service e g one train a week in either direction was proposed by the Strategic Rail Authority SRA 5 but rejected Services editAll services at Swale are operated by Southeastern using Class 375 EMUs The typical off peak service is one train per hour in each direction between Sheerness on Sea and Sittingbourne from where connections are available to London Victoria London St Pancras International Dover Priory and Ramsgate 6 Preceding station nbsp National Rail Following stationKemsleySoutheasternSheerness LineQueenboroughReferences edit Private and Untimetabled Railway Stations by G Croughton A Kent railway station has just ELEVEN passengers a day Kent Live 16 December 2016 Archived from the original on 17 December 2016 Retrieved 28 December 2016 a b Kidner p 56 King s Ferry Bridge seriously damaged The Times No 43217 London 18 December 1922 col A p 9 Kent franchise sees service plans revised Modern Railways London Ian Allan February 2005 p 5 Table 212 National Rail timetable December 2023 Kidner R W 1985 Southern Railway Halts Survey and Gazetteer Headington Oxford The Oakwood Press ISBN 0 85361 321 4 External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Swale railway station Train times and station information for Swale railway station from National Rail Video about the station by Geoff Marshall from 2016 51 23 21 N 0 44 50 E 51 3892 N 0 7471 E 51 3892 0 7471 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Swale railway station amp oldid 1190533773, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
