Westenhanger railway station

Westenhanger railway station is on the South Eastern Main Line in England, serving the villages of Westenhanger and Stanford, as well as Folkestone Racecourse, in Kent. It is 64 miles 15 chains (103.3 km) down the line from London Charing Cross . The station and all trains that call are operated by Southeastern.

Westenhanger
Location
PlaceWestenhanger
Local authorityFolkestone & Hythe
Grid referenceTR128372
Operations
Station codeWHA
Managed bySoutheastern
Number of platforms2
DfT categoryF1
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections
from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2014/15 67,500
2015/16 66,508
2016/17 64,032
2017/18 64,602
2018/19 76,602
History
Key datesOpened 7 February 1844 (7 February 1844)
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Westenhanger from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.

History

The station was built by the South Eastern Railway (SER). The line through the station opened on 28 June 1843, before construction had started.[1] It was announced on 28 November 1843 and was planned to be the station serving Hythe; the SER Chairman Joseph Baxendale hoped to stand as a candidate in the next general election for that constituency. It opened on 7 February 1844 along with the extension from Folkestone Central to Dover Priory.[2] An inn was built next to the station in September.[3]

The station became a junction when the SER's branch line to Sandgate opened on 10 October 1864. However, it was inconveniently placed, and the SER considered closing it and building a station somewhere else. Ultimately, the station was not closed and Sandling railway station opened.[4]

In 1898, a station about 250 metres west of Westenhanger was built to serve the adjacent Folkestone Racecourse. It was only used on race days.[5] It closed in the 1960s.[6]

British Rail proposed the closure of the station as from 3 February 1969.[7] Objections were made which were considered by a Transport Users' Consultative Committee, after which the Minister of Transport decided against closure.[7]

In 2017, Shepway District Council announced plans to build a garden town next to the station, with around 12,000 new homes.[8]

Facilities

The station is un-manned; a ticket machine is available. The one-time station building is unused.[9]

Services

From January 2015 the off-peak service has been reduced from 2 trains per hour in each direction to 1:

Preceding station National Rail Following station
Ashford International   Southeastern
South Eastern Main Line		   Sandling
Disused railways
Smeeth   British Rail
Southern Region
South Eastern Main Line		   Sandling for Hythe

References

Citations

  1. Gray 1990, p. 140.
  2. Gray 1990, pp. 20-21,140.
  3. Gray 1990, p. 141.
  4. Gray 1990, pp. 149, 152.
  5. Gray 1990, p. 155.
  6. McCarthy & McCarthy 2007, p. 128.
  7. "Minehead and Westenhanger closures postponed". Railway Magazine. 115 (814): 111. February 1969.
  8. Kent Route Study Draft for Consultation (PDF). Network Rail (Report). March 2017. p. 74. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
  9. "Westenhanger". National Rail. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
  10. Network Rail Timetable January 2015: Table 207

Sources

  • Gray, Adrian (1990). South Eastern Railway. Middleton Press. ISBN 978-0-906520-85-7.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • McCarthy, Colin; McCarthy, David (2007). Railways of Britain : Kent and Sussex. Ian Allan. ISBN 978-0-7110-3222-4.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)


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