Longfield Halt railway station

Longfield Halt (also known as Longfield Halt for Pinden and Westwood) was a railway station on the Gravesend West Line which served the settlement of Grubb Street in Kent, England.

Longfield Halt
Site of Longfield Halt, now part of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link
General information
LocationGrubb Street, Dartford, Kent
England
Grid referenceTQ599698
Platforms2
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Pre-groupingSouth Eastern and Chatham Railway
Post-groupingSouthern Railway
Southern Region of British Railways
Key dates
1 July 1913Opened
3 August 1953Closed[1]

History

The line was opened 1886 but it was not until 1913 that the station was opened as part of a drive by the South Eastern and Chatham Railway (SECR) to cut costs and increase revenues on the Gravesend West branch.[2] Longfield Halt was now the first station on the line and was situated ¾ mile from Fawkham Junction in a chalk cutting just to the south-west of a road bridge carrying Whitehill Road over the line.[3]

The station was constructed entirely of wood, with access being had from a staircase leading down from the overbridge. Its opening coincided with the introduction by the SECR of push-pull trains, initially worked by H class 0-4-4Ts with ex-South Eastern Railway 4 wheel coaches, running between Swanley Junction and Gravesend West Street.[4] Although ultimately never successful, the line began to suffer in the face of competition from local bus services following the Second World War, and freight dropped off. The decision was therefore made to close all stations on the branch line to passenger traffic as from 3 August 1953. In 1959, the line was singled and the platform buildings at Longfield Halt were demolished along with those at neighbouring Southfleet.[5] The line running through Longfield remained open for freight until 1976, and the track remained even as late as 1985.[6]

Preceding station   Disused railways   Following station
Farningham Road
Line and station open		   British Rail
Southern Region
Gravesend West Line		   Southfleet
Line partially open, station closed

Present day

The site of Longfield Halt has been incorporated into the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL) which runs from London through Kent to the British side of the Channel Tunnel. Works on the CTRL commenced in 1998 with the lifting of the remaining track on the Gravesend Branch and the excavation of a new trackbed.[7] CTRL services followed the alignment of the Gravesend Branch as far as Fawkham Junction where they joined the Chatham Main Line to proceed to Waterloo.[8] CTRL trains ceased using this route in 2007 when trains were diverted to St. Pancras. The line is still occasionally used for empty stock trains.

References
  1. Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations, Patrick Stephens Ltd, Sparkford, ISBN 1-85260-508-1, p. 149.
  2. Oppitz, Leslie (2003). Lost Railways of Kent. Newbury, Berkshire: Countryside Books. p. 98. ISBN 978-1-85306-803-4.
  3. Kidner, R.W. (1985). Southern Railway Halts: Survey and Gazetteer. Headington, Oxford: The Oakwood Press. p. 49. ISBN 0-85361-321-4.
  4. Pallant, N. (1984). The Gravesend West Branch. Blandford, Dorset: The Oakwood Press. p. 13. ISBN 0-85361-307-9.
  5. Oppitz, L., op. cit. p. 100.
  6. White, H.P. (1987). Forgotten Railways: Vol. 6 South-East England. Newton Abbot, Devon: David St John Thomas. pp. 128–129. ISBN 0-946537-37-2.
  7. Kent Rail, "Medway Viaduct".
  8. Department of Transport, "The Channel Tunnel Rail Link: Introduction". Archived 6 February 2008 at the Wayback Machine

51.4051°N 0.2977°E / 51.4051; 0.2977

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