The Medway Valley line is the name given to the railway line linking in the Medway Towns via to . High Speed services also link between Maidstone West, Snodland, Strood and London St Pancras International (peak only). The section from Maidstone West to Paddock Wood passes through some of Kent's most picturesque countryside along the narrower sections of the River Medway.
History
The line was built in two stages by the South Eastern Railway (SER). The first stage opened on 24 September 1844 and was a branch off the SER's first main line that crossed Kent between the coast ports of Dover and Folkestone and the LBSCR's main line at Redhill. According to a contemporary report in The Times newspaper, the opening of the branch line was an attempt to convey hops and fruit traffic back to Maidstone, which was losing trade to various points along the Dover line. Post World War One, the railways were "grouped" and the SECR became part of Southern Railway.
For a brief period in the 1990s some services were extended to via
and . This involved reversing trains and switching tracks at Strood.
It was designated by the Department for Transport as a community rail service in September 2007.
Industry
The line served many rail connected industries, Aveling and Porter just south of Strood, cement works in the Cuxton, Halling and Snodland areas, a newsprint at New Hythe, Lafarge between Aylesford and Maidstone Barracks, Lockmeadow sidings at Maidstone West, Tovil goods depot and sand pits at Beltring
Infrastructure
Track
The line is double track throughout, apart from a short single-track section on approach to Paddock Wood station, with a maximum speed of . Between Paddock Wood and Tonbridge the maximum speed is .
Stations
The line serves the following stations: , , , , , , , , , , , , and
Signalling
During 2005, the signalling systems were upgraded, replacing the traditional semaphore signals with coloured light signals. Further modifications have since been made with the expansion of the North Kent Signalling Centre. The level crossing at Yalding has the only signal on the Southeastern network to display a flashing white light as the proceed aspect.
Electrification
The line from Strood to Maidstone West was electrified (at 750 V DC third rail) by the Southern Railway, opening on 2 July 1939. The rest of the line from Paddock Wood to Maidstone West was electrified under Stage 2 of Kent Coast electrification by BR's 1955 Modernisation Plan, opening to traffic on 18 June 1962.
Train services
Services are operated by Southeastern.
Trains typically run at off-peak half-hourly (hourly on Sundays) service between Strood and Paddock Wood with some peak services being extended to Tonbridge. There is also a special service at 22:34 every night from Tonbridge to Gillingham (Kent).
High-speed introduction
On 18 March 2011, Southeastern announced the start of a new high-speed service from Maidstone to St Pancras International via Strood on a trial basis. During the morning rush hour, there are 2 trains from Maidstone West to St Pancras International, and 1 train heading in the opposite direction. In the evening rush hour, the services are reversed (2 trains to Maidstone West, and 1 trains to St Pancras International). Services in the opposite direction to the main flow do not call at Snodland and instead run non-stop from Maidstone West to Strood.
A trial service commenced on 23 May 2011 and comes as a result of changes on the North Kent line to improve punctuality of existing services. This service has since been made permanent and is still extant in 2026, although the single service each way in the non-peak flow direction was later abolished.
Traction and rolling stock
The main rolling stock used on the line is 3 car Class 375/3 Electrostars.
Class 395 Javelins serve the line during Monday to Friday peak hours with high speed services from St. Pancras International to Maidstone West, with Snodland the only intermediate station it serves on the line.
{| class="wikitable"
|----- bgcolor=#f9f9f9
! rowspan="2" |Class
! rowspan="2" |Image
! rowspan="2" |Type
! rowspan="2" |Cars per set
! colspan="2" |Top speed
! rowspan="2" |Number
! rowspan="2" |Operator
! rowspan="2" |Notes
! rowspan="2" |Built
|----- bgcolor=#f9f9f9
!mph
!km/h
|-
|Class 395 Javelin
|200px
| rowspan="2" |EMU
|6
|140 (HS1) 100 (Mainline)
|225 (HS1) 160 (Mainline)
|29
| rowspan="3" |Southeastern
|Peak time high speed services between Maidstone West and St.Pancras International
|2007–2009
|-
|Class 375
|200px
|3 or 4
|100
|160
|140
|All services on the Medway Valley line are usually operated by 375/3s but 375/6/7/8/9s may occasionally appear.
|1999–2005
|-
|}
Freight/Other
A variety of freight and other services frequent the line, including through traffic from Hoo Junction and Tonbridge yard.
Aggregates traffic also features, with destinations including Allington and Aylesford aggregates sidings.
{| class="wikitable"
|----- bgcolor=#f9f9f9
!Class
!Image
!Type
|----- bgcolor=#f9f9f9
|-
|Class 59
|200px
|Diesel Electric
|-
|Class 66
|200px
|Diesel Electric
|-
|Class 73
|200px
|Electro-Diesel
|-
|MPV
|200px
|
|-
|}
References
Further reading
External links
- http://www.kentrail.org.uk/medway_valley_line.htm – Map of the Medway Valley line (Strood to Paddock Wood)
- https://web.archive.org/web/20081112101428/http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsite/ – Ordnance Survey website