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Chatham
Aerial view of Chatham railway station
General information
Location	Chatham,Borough of Medway England
Coordinates	51°22′50″N0°31′14″E / 51.3805°N 0.5205°E /51.3805; 0.5205
Grid reference	TQ755676
Managed by	Southeastern
Platforms	2
Other information
Station code	CTM
Classification	DfT category C1
History
Opened	25 January 1858; 168 years ago (1858-01-25)
Passengers
2020/21	0.826 million
2021/22	1.729 million
2022/23	2.010 million
2023/24	2.173 million
2024/25	2.398 million
Location
Notes Passenger statistics from theOffice of Rail and Road

Chatham railway station is on theChatham Main Line in England, serving the town ofChatham, Kent. It is 34 miles 25 chains (55.2 km) down the line fromLondon Victoria and is situated betweenRochester andGillingham.

The station and most trains that call are operated bySoutheastern. Following a timetable change on Sunday 20 May 2018, some trains are operated byGovia Thameslink.

There are two platforms, one for each direction and both capable of accommodating 12-coach trains. There are tunnels at either end of the station: Fort Pitt Tunnel (428 yards) at the London end, and Chatham Tunnel (297 yards) at the country end.

The station was opened on 25 January 1858, when theLondon, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR) (then known as theEast Kent Railway) opened a single line eastwards toFaversham. Two months later (29 March 1858) the link with theNorth Kent Line atStrood was opened; and the new railway reachedDover Priory in 1861. TheChatham Dockyard branch connection is made nearGillingham, though this is now disused and physically disconnected from the main line.

As built the station had two platforms with the station buildings being on the Down side. A note on the working drawings states that the station had to be visible fromFort Pitt. About 1881 it was rebuilt with two island platforms, and the station buildings were moved onto the road bridge, then known as Rome Place. In 1958 the station was converted back to two platforms as part of the Kent Coast Electrification Scheme, Stage 1. The station had been electrified in 1939 but the 1958 scheme lengthened the platforms to 12 car EMUs, which due to the geography of the station - between two tunnels - necessitated the abandoning of the other platforms.

A modern entrance and booking hall replaced the originals in 1981. Further remodelling in the 1990s and 2000s has seen the ticket office moved twice, accompanied by the opening, closing and re-opening of retail areas. A small, general corner store also opened. The building is located at one side of the road bridge (now Railway Street) over the track, with ataxi rank located between the road and the building. Stairs lead down to the platforms. Acafe is located on the London bound platform. There is also a coffee shop located at the main entrance of the station.

In May 2021, work began on replacing the footbridge. The new bridge haslifts enabling step-free access. This work was completed as part of the Access for All scheme.^[1]

Asquith Xavier plaque

A plaque in the waiting room commemoratesAsquith Xavier, a local resident who ended a colour bar at British Railways in London by fighting to become the first non-white train guard at Euston railway station in 1966.^[2]

v t e Medway Towns
Legend
North Kent Line &HS1 toLondon Bridge &St Pancras Chatham Main Line toVictoria &Blackfriars Medway Valley Line toMaidstone West Halling Cuxton Strood Rochester Bridge |Strood (1st) Rochester Bridge Goods station Rochester Common Rochester (2015–) Rochester (1892–2015) Chatham Central River Medway Chatham Gillingham Rainham Chatham Main Line toFaversham,Dover &Ramsgate

Services at Chatham are operated bySoutheastern andThameslink usingClass 375,377,395,465,466 and700EMUs.

The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is:^[3]

• 2 tph toLondon St Pancras International
• 3 tph toLondon Victoria (2 of these run non-stop fromBromley South and 1 runs viaDenmark Hill)
• 2 tph toLuton viaDartford andGreenwich
• 1 tph toGillingham
• 2 tph toRainham
• 1 tph toFaversham
• 1 tph toDover Priory viaCanterbury East
• 2 tph toRamsgate

Additional services, including trains to and fromLondon Charing Cross viaSidcup, and fast trains to and fromLondon Cannon Street call at the station during the peak hours.

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Rochester		Southeastern Chatham Main Line		Gillingham
		Southeastern High Speed 1
		Thameslink North Kent Line
		Southeastern North Kent Line Peak Hours Only

Wikimedia Commons has media related toChatham railway station.

• Chatham Central railway station

• Train times andstation information for Chatham railway station (Kent) fromNational Rail
• Chatham station's page on the KentRail website

• Railway stations in Medway
• DfT Category C1 stations
• Former London, Chatham and Dover Railway stations
• Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1858
• Railway stations served by Southeastern
• Railway stations served by Govia Thameslink Railway

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