Kent Downs line
Looking west along the railway near Lenham
Overview
Status	Operational
Owner	Network Rail
Locale	Kent South East England
Termini	Otford Ashford international
Service
Type	Suburban rail,Heavy rail
System	National Rail
Operator(s)	Southeastern Thameslink
Rolling stock	Class 375 "Electrostar" Class 465 "Networker" Class 466 "Networker" Class 700 "Desiro City"
Technical
Line length	76 mi 17 ch (122.7 km)[1]
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)standard gauge
Electrification	750VDCthird rail

v t e Maidstone line
Legend
Chatham Main Line toLondon Victoria Swanley Swanley Junction Chatham Main Line toFaversham A20 M25 18 mi 60 ch 30.18 km Eynsford Tunnel ( 828 yd 757 m ) Lullingstone (never opened) 19 mi 39 ch 31.36 km Lullingstone Airfield (never built) Eynsford Viaduct overRiver Darent Eynsford 20 mi 32 ch 32.83 km Shoreham 22 mi 52 ch 36.45 km Otford 24 mi 06 ch 38.74 km M26 24 mi 53 ch 39.69 km South Eastern Main Line toLondon Charing Cross Otford (1874–1880) Bat & Ball Sevenoaks South Eastern Main Line toTonbridge Kemsing 26 mi 79 ch 43.43 km Borough Green & Wrotham 29 mi 52 ch 47.72 km Offham Siding West Malling 34 mi 61 ch 55.94 km East Malling 35 mi 64 ch 57.61 km Barming 37 mi 43 ch 60.41 km former Preston Hall Tunnels ( 33 yd 30 m & 54 yd 49 m ) Medway Valley Line River Medway Maidstone East 39 mi 76 ch 64.29 km Week Street Tunnel ( 98 yd 90 m ) Wheeler Street Tunnel ( 358 yd 327 m ) Bearsted 42 mi 59 ch 68.78 km M20 High Speed 1 Hollingbourne 45 mi 02 ch 72.46 km Harrietsham 47 mi 36 ch 76.36 km Lenham 49 mi 11 ch 79.08 km Charing 53 mi 11 ch 85.52 km M20 Hothfield Halt 55 mi 61 ch 89.74 km Ashford West High Speed 1 South Eastern Main Line Ashford International 59 mi 19 ch 95.33 km Marshlink line Ashford to Ramsgate line Ashford Steam Centre High Speed 1 South Eastern Main Line
Mileage fromLondon Victoria

TheKent Downs line is a railway line betweenOtford andAshford International inKent, England. It adopted its current name in 2020, by the Kent Rail Partnership.^[2]

It covers a large part of what was known as theMaidstone line which extended further from Otford to Swanley.^[3][4] This line diverged from theChatham Main Line at Swanley Junction, and proceeds down theDarent Valley line^[5] to Otford junction,^[6] where the Darent Valley line, also known as the Bat & Ball line,^[6] divides towardsSevenoaks. Whereas the line now known as Kent Downs, continues viaBorough Green & Wrotham andMaidstone East toAshford, where it joins theSouth Eastern Main Line.^[7]

The line was built by theLondon, Chatham and Dover Railway from their first line (the Chatham Main Line). The final section to Ashford opened on 1 July 1884 and terminated atAshford West. There was initially no direct connection to the rivalSouth Eastern Railway'sexisting station.^[8]

Upon the creation of theSouth Eastern and Chatham Railway in 1899, Ashford West was closed and services diverted to the former South Eastern Railway station. The line was electrified in 1939 (750 V DC third rail) to Maidstone East by theSouthern Railway prior to World War Two. Electrification between Maidstone East and Ashford was completed in 1961 under the BR1955 Modernisation Plan.

In 2020 the line from Ashford International toOtford was adopted by the Kent Rail Partnership and this section was renamed theKent Downs line.^[2]

Traction current is supplied at 750 volts DC via theThird Rail. The supply for this is overseen by Paddock Wood Electrical Control Room.^[6] Signalling isTrack CircuitBlock with multiple aspect colour light signals throughout, controlled by Maidstone East Signal Box.^[6] The line is double track throughout.

Services on the line are run bySoutheastern.Services run toLondon Victoria,London Charing Cross andAshford, with some peak services toLondon Blackfriars.

In the off-peak, there are one train per hour fromAshford International toLondon Victoria viaBromley South andSwanley stopping at all stations between Ashford andOtford and one train per hour fromMaidstone East toLondon Charing Cross running semi-fast via Swanley andLondon Bridge. These services are operated byClass 375 andClass 377 EMUs.

Thameslink utilises the route betweenSwanley andOtford on theirLondon Blackfriars toSevenoaks metro services via the Catford Loop andElephant and Castle with two trains per hour running. Additional services through London will be introduced as part of theThameslink Programme betweenCambridge andMaidstone East. As of June 2024, these services have not yet been introduced with no news about their future.^[9]

Wikimedia Commons has media related toMaidstone East Line.

• Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (1994).Swanley to Ashford. Midhurst: Middleton Press.ISBN 1 873793 45 6.
• Yonge, John (October 1994). Gerald Jacobs (ed.).Railway Track Diagrams – Volume 5 England, South and London Underground (1st ed.). Exeter: Quail Map Co.ISBN 1-8983-1907-3.

51°16′40″N0°31′22″E / 51.2778°N 0.5228°E /51.2778; 0.5228

• Rail transport in Kent
• Transport in the Borough of Ashford
• Railway lines in South East England
• Standard gauge railways in England

• CS1: long volume value
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• Use dmy dates from February 2024
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