Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maids ...

, Kent has had numerous

railway stations A train station, railway station, railroad station or depot is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track and a station building providing such ...

due to the legacy of competition between the South Eastern Railway (SER) and

London, Chatham and Dover Railway The London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR or LC&DR) was a railway company in south-eastern England created on 1 August 1859, when the East Kent Railway was given parliamentary approval to change its name. Its lines ran through London and no ...

(LCDR) and the subsequent rationalisation attempts by their successors: the

South Eastern and Chatham Railway The South Eastern and Chatham Railway Companies Joint Management Committee (SE&CRCJMC),Awdry (1990), page 199 known as the South Eastern and Chatham Railway (SE&CR), was a working union of two neighbouring rival railways, the South Easte ...

(SECR), Southern Railway and British Rail Southern Region. Dovermap1945

Dover, Folkestone & Tunbridge Wells RJD 33

Current station

Opened on 22 July 1861 as ''Dover Town (Priory)'' by the LCDR,

Dover Priory railway station Dover Priory railway station is the southern terminus of the South Eastern Main Line in England, and is the main station serving the town of Dover, Kent, the other open station being , on the outskirts. It is down the line from London Victoria ...

became a through station on 1 November the same year, upon completion of a tunnel through the Western Heights connecting it to LCDR's new Dover Harbour Station in the Western Docks area. The renaming in July 1863 as ''Dover Priory'' led rival SER to adopt the name "Dover Town" for one of its Dover stations. Dover Priory is the only station still open in Dover.

Former stations

Besides Dover Priory, there have been five other stations in Dover, all of which are now closed.

Dover Harbour

Dover Marine Parade Goods train from Eastern Dock geograph-2663003-by-Ben-Brooksbank

The name ''Dover Harbour'' has been used for two separate stations. The first was opened by the LCDR on 1 November 1861; this was closed in June 1863 when it was replaced by a new station named ''Dover Town and Harbour''. This was renamed ''Dover Harbour'' on 1 July 1899 and closed on 10 July 1927. The LCDR constructed a tunnel through the Western Heights to allow continental traffic to access the Western Docks in 1861, and just south of the tunnel, on the current track to Folkestone, a station was built. Later an extension was also built onto Admiralty Pier. It was closed in 1927 by Southern as part of their rationalisation and modernisation of the Dover area. Although the platforms have been demolished as in March 2017 the station buildings still survive as offices.

Dover Town

The SER's original station opened on 7 February 1844 as ''Dover'', and was situated on Shakespeare Beach just east of where the current line from Folkestone turns north towards Dover Priory. This was originally a terminus, but later the line continued onto

Admiralty Pier The Port of Dover is a cross-channel ferry, cruise terminal, maritime cargo and marina facility situated in Dover, Kent, south-east England. It is the nearest English port to France, at just away, and is one of the List of busiest cruise ports ...

. It was renamed ''Dover Town'' in December 1861, and was closed on 14 October 1914 as part of rationalisation and modernisation of the Dover area by SECR. After closure for passengers the track/platforms were in use for freight/engineers use until the 1990s. After the track was removed the area was used for car parking and some sections of platforms still survive.

Admiralty Pier

In 1860 SER started running trains on to the pier, the LCDR following in 1864. This exposed halt was extended and replaced by Dover Marine in 1909. The SER station at ''Dover Admiralty Pier'' opened on 30 August 1864 and closed in August 1914.

Dover Prince of Wales Pier

This station was opened in 1902 and closed in 1909.

Dover Marine/Dover Western Docks

Dover Marine station geograph-3418652-by-Ben-Brooksbank

The former Marine Station, Dover - geograph

Situated on Admiralty Pier for connection to ships, this was constructed on an expanded pier by SECR, finished in 1914, began to be used on 2 February 1915 but was not available for public use until 18 January 1919; in the meantime it had been renamed ''Dover Marine'' on 5 December 1918. It was a large terminus with four platforms covered by a full roof. Platforms were extended to take 12-car trains in February 1959. It was renamed again to ''Dover Western Docks'' on 14 May 1979, and was closed by

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four (British ra ...

on 26 September 1994 with the demise of

boat train A boat train is a passenger train operating to a port for the specific purpose of making connection with a passenger ship, such as a ferry, ocean liner, or cruise ship. Through ticketing is normally available. __NOTOC__ Notable named boat tr ...

s and the opening of the

Channel Tunnel The Channel Tunnel (french: Tunnel sous la Manche), also known as the Chunnel, is a railway tunnel that connects Folkestone (Kent, England, UK) with Coquelles ( Hauts-de-France, France) beneath the English Channel at the Strait of Dover ...

. It is now a cruise liner terminal.

Regie voor Maritiem Transport Regie voor Maritiem Transport (RMT) was the Belgium, Belgian state-owned ferry service and operated ferries on the Ostend-Dover route under the name Oostende Lines. For the last few years until its demise in February 1997, the ferries from Osten ...

used to run ferries until 1994 from here to

Oostende railway station Oostende railway station ( nl, Station Oostende, french: Gare d'Ostende, List of IATA-indexed railway stations, IATA code: ZGJ), officially Oostende, is a railway station in Ostend, West Flanders, Belgium. It is operated by the National Railway C ...

which connected into

Belgian railway line 50A The Belgian railway line 50A is a railway line in Belgium connecting Brussels with Ostend through Ghent and Bruges. The section between Ghent and Ostend was completed in 1838. The section between Ghent and Brussels was opened between 1923 and 19 ...

run by

NMBS french: Société nationale des chemins de fer belgesgerman: Nationale Gesellschaft der Belgischen Eisenbahnen , type = Statutory corporation , industry = Rail Transport , foundation = 1926 , founder = Government o ...

. There was a fast ferry service using the Jetfoil as well as conventional ferries. The Southern Railway opened a large

locomotive depot The motive power depot (MPD) or locomotive depot, or traction maintenance depot (TMD), is the place where locomotives are usually housed, repaired and maintained when not being used. They were originally known as "running sheds", "engine shed ...

at the site in 1928. This was closed in 1961 and demolished.Griffiths, Roger; Smith, Paul (1999). The directory of British engine sheds: 1. Oxford: OPC., p.61. Dover Locomotive Depot geograph-2673112-by-Ben-Brooksbank

Dover Locomotive Depot geograph-2673112-by-Ben-Brooksbank

References

External links

{{commons category, Railway stations in Dover, Kent
Subterranea Britannica's page on Admiralty Pier

Subterranea Britannica's page on Dover Harbour

Subterranea Britannica's page on Dover Western Docks

Railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a p ...

Buildings and structures in Dover, Kent Lists of buildings and structures in Kent