Dartford railway station

Dartford
Dartford Location of Dartford in Kent
Location	Dartford
Local authority	Borough of Dartford
Grid reference	TQ543743
Managed by	Southeastern
Station code	DFD
DfT category	C1
Number of platforms	4
Accessible	Yes
Fare zone	8
National Rail annual entry and exit
2015–16	3.450 million[1]
– interchange	0.690 million[1]
2016–17	3.908 million[1]
– interchange	0.818 million[1]
2017–18	4.164 million[1]
– interchange	0.430 million[1]
2018–19	4.623 million[1]
– interchange	0.402 million[1]
2019–20	4.659 million[1]
– interchange	0.333 million[1]
Key dates
30 July 1849	Station opened
Other information
External links	Departures Layout Facilities Buses
WGS84	51°26′51″N 0°13′09″E / 51.4475°N 0.2193°E / 51.4475; 0.2193Coordinates: 51°26′51″N 0°13′09″E / 51.4475°N 0.2193°E / 51.4475; 0.2193
London transport portal

Station clock of Dartford's 19th century station building (1895)

Dartford railway station serves the town of Dartford in Kent, England. It is 17 miles 12 chains (27.6 km) down the line from London Charing Cross. Train services from the station are operated by Southeastern and Thameslink. Southeastern also manages the station. Dartford is a major interchange station in the North Kent region of the Southeastern network. Ticket barriers control access to the platforms.

The station is where three lines from London meet:

• the North Kent Line, via Woolwich Arsenal
• the Bexleyheath Line
• the Dartford Loop Line via Sidcup.

Westbound services normally terminate at London Charing Cross, London Cannon Street (both via London Bridge), London Victoria and, for Thameslink trains, Luton and Bedford. Services from London also continue through Dartford to Greenhithe (for Bluewater) to terminate at Gravesend, Strood, Rochester or Gillingham. Thameslink trains terminate at Rainham.

Many of the terminating services at Dartford form London bound services, but the remainder will be stabled and maintained at Slade Green Depot approximately two miles west on the North Kent Line. There are several sidings to the east of the station where terminating trains can be stabled until such time as needed to return to Dartford to form London bound services or until drivers are available to return the train to Slade Green Depot.

History[]

The first station was opened here by the South Eastern Railway it extended its North Kent Line from Gravesend on 30 July 1849, taking the line from there to London. The original station building had an Italianate design; this was replaced by a glass and metal ticket office complex in 1972. A footbridge leads across the line to the two island platforms.

Replacement of the 1972 station building was approved in 2011,^[2] with enabling works started late that year, and major works commenced in mid-2012. The new building was completed in November 2013.^[3]

Future development[]

In the future, Dartford station may form part of a Crossrail extension line, linking to Canary Wharf, London Paddington station, Heathrow Airport and Reading.^[4]

Trivia[]

In 1960, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards met by chance at the station, going on to be the core writing team of the Rolling Stones. There is a plaque on the London-bound platform to commemorate this fact.^[5][6][7]

Dartford railway station gained a lot of attention due to the high numbers of people travelling using this line, mistakenly not knowing that Oyster cards were not valid, and there was evidence of being approached by staff and receiving penalty fares.^[8] In September 2015 Transport for London extended the London fare zones to add Dartford to zone 8, thus allowing Oyster and Contactless payment methods to be used there.^[9]

Services[]

The typical off-peak service from the station is:

• 2tph (trains per hour) to Luton via Woolwich Arsenal & London Blackfriars
• 2tph to London Charing Cross via Woolwich Arsenal & Lewisham
• 2tph to London Charing Cross via Bexleyheath
• 4tph to London Charing Cross via Sidcup, 2tph of which are stopping services and 2tph are semi fast
• 2tph to London Victoria via Bexleyheath
• 4tph to Gravesend, 2tph of which are stopping services and 2tph are semi fast
• 2tph to Rainham (Kent)

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Crayford		Southeastern Sidcup Line		Stone Crossing
Slade Green		Thameslink North Kent Line
		Southeastern North Kent Line		Terminus
Barnehurst		Southeastern Bexleyheath Line
		Southeastern Victoria-Gravesend Line		Greenhithe

Connections[]

The station is served by the following bus services:

• Arriva Kent Thameside routes 414, 423, 477, 480 and 490. These buses provide connections to Orpington, Swanley, Bluewater, Gravesend, Longfield and New Ash Green.^[10]
• Fastrack routes A, AZ and B. These buses provide connections to Temple Hill, Bluewater, Ebbsfleet and Gravesend.^[11][12]
• Go-Coach routes 429, Dart 1 and Dart 2. These buses provide connections to Temple Hill, Swanley and West Kingsdown.
• London Buses routes 96, 428 and 492. These buses provide connections to Bluewater, Bexleyheath, Erith, Woolwich and Sidcup.

Concessionary and electronic ticketing[]

Oyster and contactless bank cards[]

Dartford entered the TfL zonal Oyster/contactless system on Sunday 6 September 2015, in Zone 8. Whilst season tickets, daily capping and contactless weekly capping are set at standard Zone 8 levels, single fares from Dartford are lower than "standard" Zone 8 fares.^[13]

This followed Southeastern agreement to seek to bring Oyster/Contactless PAYG to Dartford by 31 January 2016 as part of the 2014–2018 franchise extension.^[14]

Passenger representation[]

Dartford Rail Travellers' Association^[15] campaigns for improvements across the seven railway stations in the Dartford area - Dartford, Stone Crossing, Greenhithe for Bluewater, Swanscombe, Ebbsfleet International, Longfield and Farningham Road. The group operates through social media on Facebook and Twitter.

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dartford railway station.

• Photograph of station building