Paddock Wood
General information
Location	Paddock Wood,Borough of Tunbridge Wells England
Coordinates	51°10′56″N0°23′20″E / 51.1822°N 0.3890°E /51.1822; 0.3890
Grid reference	TQ670452
Managed by	Southeastern
Platforms	3
Other information
Station code	PDW
Classification	DfT category C2
History
Opened	31 August 1842
Passengers
2019/20	1.185 million
Interchange	78,394
2020/21	0.269 million
Interchange	23,435
2021/22	0.742 million
Interchange	67,632
2022/23	0.881 million
Interchange	0.110 million
2023/24	0.991 million
Interchange	0.130 million
Location
Notes Passenger statistics from theOffice of Rail and Road

v t e Paddock Wood
Legend
toTonbridge Down Siding West  B2160  Maidstone Road Medway Valley Line toMaidstone West Hawkhurst Branch Line toMarden

Paddock Wood railway station is on theSouth Eastern Main Line andMedway Valley Line in south-east England, serving theBorough of Tunbridge Wells town ofPaddock Wood. The station also serves the villages ofMatfield,Brenchley andHorsmonden, which do not have stations of their own. It is 34 miles 67 chains (56.1 km) down the line fromLondon Charing Cross. The station and all trains calling there are operated bySoutheastern.

TheSouth Eastern Railway opened a line fromRedhill toAshford and on toDover during 1842.^[1] This bypassed the county town ofMaidstone, and a station namedMaidstone Road was opened in a rural location on 31 August 1842 to serve the town, 8 miles (13 km) to the north.^[2] The village of Paddock Wood developed quickly around the station, which took the namePaddock Wood on 25 September 1844 when the branch line toMaidstone West was opened.^[1][3] Another branch line—theHawkhurst Branch—to the village ofHawkhurst existed between 1892 and 1961.^[4]

Paddock Wood Railway station appears in the novelDombey and Son byCharles Dickens where, in chapter 55, the villain, Mr Carker, accidentally falls under a train at the station and is killed.^[5]

The station has Up and Down platforms (1 and 2 respectively) with a pair of fast lines between them. On the Down side, abay platform (platform 3) is used for theMedway Valley Line services to Maidstone and beyond. A matching bay platform existed on the Up side when the Hawkhurst branch was in operation. The main station building is on the Up platform; there are long canopies on both platforms. Transfer between platforms is by footbridge.^[6]

All services at Paddock Wood are operated bySoutheastern usingClass 375EMUs.

The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is:^[7]

• 2 tph toLondon Charing Cross
• 1 tph toDover Priory
• 1 tph toRamsgate viaCanterbury West
• 2 tph toStrood viaMaidstone West

Additional services, including trains to and fromLondon Cannon Street and Ramsgate viaDeal call at the station during the peak hours.

On Sundays, the service to and from Strood is reduced to hourly.

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Tonbridge		Southeastern South Eastern Main Line		Marden
Terminus		Southeastern Medway Valley Line		Beltring
Tonbridge Limited Service
	Disused railways
Terminus		British Rail Southern Region Hawkhurst Branch Line		Horsmonden

• At 03:40 hrs on 5 May 1919, a goods train fromBricklayers Arms toMargate overran signals and ran into the back of another goods train just to the west of Paddock Wood station. The Margate train was hauled byC class No. 721. It had 50 goods vehicles including threebrake vans. The other train was hauled by C class No. 61. The fireman of this train was killed in the accident. Although the main cause of the accident was the driver of the Margate train failing to obey signals, the signalman at Tonbridge East signal box was also censured for failure to give the driver adequate warning that although the train had been accepted by the signalman at Paddock Wood, the line was not fully clear at the junction. The signalman at Paddock Wood had accepted the train under Regulation No 5 - "Section clear but station or junction blocked".^[8]

• On 16 March 1949,"Schools" Class locomotive 30932Blundells was derailed at the station.^[9]

• At 02:02 on 8 December 1961, a goods train was setting back at Paddock Wood station when the 00:20 goods fromHoo Junction toTonbridge, hauled byD6506, overran signals and collided with it. The wreckage from the accident piled up under the bridge carrying the B2160 Maidstone Road. The line was blocked for 12 hours.^[10][11][12]

Citations

Sources

• Tonbridge Line Commuters - Paddock Wood

Wikimedia Commons has media related toPaddock Wood railway station.

• Train times andstation information for Paddock Wood railway station fromNational Rail
• Paddock Wood station on navigable 1940 OS map

• Railway stations in Kent
• DfT Category C2 stations
• Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1842
• Railway stations served by Southeastern
• Former South Eastern Railway (UK) stations
• Paddock Wood

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