Sevenoaks railway station is a
railway station on the South Eastern Main Line in England,
serving the town of Sevenoaks, Kent. It is 22 miles 9 chains
(35.6 km) down the line from London Charing Cross and is
situated between Dunton Green and Hildenborough stations. Trains
calling at the station are operated by Southeastern and
Thameslink.
Trains from the station run northbound to London Bridge, Cannon
Street, Waterloo East and Charing Cross via Orpington, or to
Blackfriars via Swanley and Catford; and southbound to Ashford
International and Ramsgate via Dover Priory, or Tunbridge Wells
and Hastings.
Sevenoaks railway station was opened on 2 March 1868. It was
formerly known as "Tubs Hill", after the adjacent area. There is
a second station, on the branch to Swanley Junction, which
opened on 2 June 1862. The station is named after the Bat & Ball
local inn which is now closed, and serves the north end of the
town.
The two lines to Sevenoaks were electrified in January 1935.
When the station was reconstructed in the 1970s a new ticket
office was built replacing the old wooden S.E.R. building. The
largest version of the Southern Region D70 type glass box
station, this reconstruction was designed by regional architect
Nigel Wikeley. Two additional side platforms were also
abolished.
Sevenoaks is part of the rail franchise which,
post-privatisation, was served by Connex South Eastern.
Subsequent to their 'sacking' in 2003 due to poor financial
management (although their train operating performance had been
very poor), services were operated by South Eastern Trains, a
wholly owned subsidiary of the Strategic Rail Authority. On 1
April 2006, Southeastern, owned by Govia, took over management
of the station as part of the new Integrated Kent Franchise.
7 June 1884 - A double-headed freight train ran into the rear of
another freight train at Tub's Hill station. Both crew of the
first train were killed. The Hildenborough signalman was charged
with causing their deaths. The trains were being worked under
the time interval system.
24 August 1927 - the Sevenoaks railway accident. River class
tank locomotive No. 800 River Cray derailed at Shoreham Lane
between Dunton Green and Sevenoaks. Thirteen people were killed
and 20 were injured. The locomotives were withdrawn and rebuilt
as tender locomotives.
|