Kent Past
The History of Kent
Copyright Kent Past 2010
History of Canterbury Stations
Canterbury West
The railway first arrived in Canterbury on 3rd May 1830, with the
opening of the Canterbury and Whitstable Railway. In the years that followed it was
beset by financial difficulties and eventually taken over by the South Eastern Railway.
In April 1846, the SER extended the line to join its station at Canterbury West,
which had opened two months previously, on 6 February 1846.
On 1 July 1889 the Elham
Valley Railway opened between Folkestone and Canterbury, where the run-
The Whitstable
branch closed to passenger traffic on 1 January 1931, and traffic from the Elham
Valley Line into Canterbury ceased from 1 December 1940. Following the Kent Coast
Electrification Scheme Phase 2 in 1960 electric services started on 9 October 1961.
Freight services were withdrawn on 13 September 1965 and the central through tracks
were removed later in 1979.
In 2010 the railway station was refurbished to improve
the station's accessibility. The main change was a new footbridge allowing a step-
As part of the East Kent Railways,
line from London to Dover it opened a station in Canterbury on 9th July 1860, which
remained a terminus until the completion of the line on 22nd July, the following
year. By 1860, the EKR had changed its name to the London, Chatham and Dover Railway.
A
large goods yard was established, with its own platform, goods shed, turntables and
a warehouse served by its own track, although this building was demolished at the
turn of the century. The remaining sidings were taken up in the 1970's.
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