Dartford railway station

Dartford
Dartford Location of Dartford in Kent
Location	Dartford
Local authority	Borough of Dartford
Grid reference	TQ543743
Managed by	Southeastern
Station code	DFD
DfT category	C1
Number of platforms	4
Accessible	Yes
Fare zone	8
National Rail annual entry and exit
2010–11	3.049 million[1]
– interchange	0.297 million[1]
2011–12	3.067 million[1]
– interchange	0.382 million[1]
2012–13	3.022 million[1]
– interchange	0.384 million[1]
2013–14	3.020 million[1]
– interchange	0.390 million[1]
2014–15	3.183 million[1]
– interchange	0.420 million[1]
Key dates
30 July 1849	Station opened
Other information
Lists of stations	DLR Underground National Rail Tramlink
External links	Departures Layout Facilities Buses
WGS84	51°26′51″N 0°13′09″E / 51.4475°N 0.2193°E / 51.4475; 0.2193Coordinates: 51°26′51″N 0°13′09″E / 51.4475°N 0.2193°E / 51.4475; 0.2193
London Transport portal UK Railways portal

Station clock of Dartford's 19th century station building (1895)

Dartford railway station serves the town of Dartford in Kent, England. All train services from the station are operated by Southeastern, which also manages the station. Dartford is a major interchange station in the North Kent region of the Southeastern network. Ticket barriers control access to the platforms.

The station is where three lines from London meet:

• the North Kent Line, via Woolwich Arsenal
• the Bexleyheath Line
• the Dartford Loop Line via Sidcup.

Westbound services normally terminate at London Charing Cross, London Cannon Street (both via London Bridge) and London Victoria. Services from London also continue through Dartford to Greenhithe (for Bluewater) to terminate at Gravesend, Strood, Rochester or Gillingham.

Many of the terminating services at Dartford form London bound services, but the remainder will be stabled and maintained at Slade Green Depot approximately two miles West on the North Kent Line There are several sidings to the East of the station where terminating trains can be stabled until such time as needed to return to Dartford to form London bound services or until drivers are available to return the train to Slade Green Depot.

History

The first station was opened here by the South Eastern Railway it extended its North Kent Line from Gravesend on 30 July 1849, taking the line from there to London. The original station building had an Italianate design; this was replaced by a glass and metal ticket office complex in 1972. A footbridge leads across the line to the two island platforms, which are capable of a very large number of train movements during a working day.

Replacement of the 1972 station building was approved in 2011,^[2] with enabling works started late that year, and major works commenced in mid-2012. The new building was opened in August 2013 with all works scheduled for completion by November of that year.^[3]

Future Development

In the future, Dartford station may form part of a Crossrail extension line, linking to Canary Wharf, London Paddington station and Heathrow airport.^[4]

Trivia

In 1960, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards met by chance at the station, going on to be the core writing team of the The Rolling Stones.^[5][6][7]

Dartford railway station gained a lot of attention due to the high numbers of people travelling using this line, mistakenly not knowing Oyster cards were not valid, and there was evidence of being approached by staff and receiving fines.^[8] In September 2015 Transport for London extended the prior 6 zone system to include Dartford and several other outlying towns and stations into a new 10 zone system thus allowing Oyster and Contactless payment methods to be used at Dartford.^[9]

Services

The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is:

• 2 to London Cannon Street via Greenwich
• 2 to London Charing Cross Semi-fast service via Woolwich Arsenal and Lewisham
• 2 to London Victoria via Bexleyheath and Lewisham
• 2 to London Charing Cross via Bexleyheath and Lewisham
• 2 to London Charing Cross via Sidcup
• 2 to Gillingham
• 2 to Gravesend

Connections

Arriva Kent Thameside Routes 414, 423, 455, 477, 480, 490 serve the station.

Fastrack routes A and B serve the station.^[10]

London Buses Routes 96, 428 and 492 serve the station. London Travelcards and Bus Passes are valid on these throughout the entire route.

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Abbey Wood		Southeastern North Kent Line		Greenhithe
Slade Green		Southeastern Greenwich Line		Terminus
Crayford		Southeastern Sidcup Line		Stone Crossing
Barnehurst		Southeastern Bexleyheath Line & Victoria-Dartford Line		Terminus

Concessionary and electronic ticketing

Oyster and contactless bank cards

Dartford entered the TfL zonal Oyster/contactless system on Sunday 6 September 2015, in Zone 8. Whilst season tickets, daily capping and contactless weekly capping are set at standard Zone 8 levels, single fares from Dartford are lower than "standard" Zone 8 fares.^[11]

This followed Southeastern agreement to seek to bring Oyster/Contactless PAYG to Dartford by 31 January 2016 as part of the 2014–2018 franchise extension.^[12]

Passenger representation

Dartford Rail Travellers' Association^[13] campaigns for improvements across the seven railway stations in the Dartford area - Dartford, Stone Crossing, Greenhithe for Bluewater, Swanscombe, Ebbsfleet International, Longfield and Farningham Road. The group operates through social media on Facebook and Twitter.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dartford railway station.

• Photograph of station building