South Eastern Main Line
The South Eastern Main Line is a major long-distance railway route in South East England, UK, one of the three main routes crossing the county of Kent, going via Sevenoaks, Tonbridge, Ashford and Folkestone to Dover. The other routes are the ...
, located in the
London Borough of Bromley
The London Borough of Bromley () is a London Borough, borough in London, England. It is the largest and southeasternmost borough in London, and borders the county of Kent, of which it formed part until 1965. The borough's population in the 2021 ...
, Greater London. It is down the line from
London Charing Cross
Charing Cross railway station (also known as London Charing Cross) is a London station group, central London railway terminus between the Strand, London, Strand and Hungerford Bridge in the City of Westminster. It is the terminus of the South ...
and is situated between and stations. It is in
Travelcard Zone 6
Fare zone 6 is an outer zone of Transport for London's zonal fare system used for calculating the price of tickets for travel on the London Underground, London Overground, Docklands Light Railway, National Rail services (since 2007), and the Eli ...
and is located next to the
Greater London
Greater London is an administrative area in England, coterminous with the London region, containing most of the continuous urban area of London. It contains 33 local government districts: the 32 London boroughs, which form a Ceremonial count ...
boundary within the
Kent
Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...
district of
Sevenoaks
Sevenoaks is a town in Kent with a population of 29,506, situated south-east of London, England. Also classified as a civil parishes in England, civil parish, Sevenoaks is served by a commuter South Eastern Main Line, main line railway into Lo ...
. The boundary is the farm bridge at the southern end of the platforms.
There is a tunnel to the south of the station, not far from the station itself.
The station consists of a ticket office, a bike rack, a small shelter on platform 1 and a slightly larger shelter on platform 2. There is a footbridge connecting the two platforms.
The station is situated between Chelsfield and Dunton Green.
The station saw 477 entries/exits daily in 2024.
Location
The station is north-northeast (NNE) of the village of
Knockholt
Knockholt is a village and civil parish in the Sevenoaks District of Kent. It is located north west of Sevenoaks & south of Orpington, and is adjacent to the Kent border with Greater London.
The village is mostly a ribbon development, surrou ...
but closer to several other settlements. The station serves several small communities in the Sevenoaks district in addition to Knockholt; Badgers Mount to the southeast,
Well Hill
Well Hill is a small rural hamlet within the civil parish of Shoreham in the Sevenoaks District of Kent, England. It borders east of Orpington & 3.5 miles south of Swanley, adjacent to the Kent border with Greater London, within the constituen ...
northeast, and
Halstead
Halstead is a town and civil parish in the Braintree District of Essex, England. Its population of 11,906 in 2011Pratt's Bottom is only west-southwest; and also
Chelsfield
Chelsfield is an area in southeast London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley and, prior to 1965, in the historic county of Kent. It lies south of Goddington, west of Well Hill, north of Pratt's Bottom and east of Green Stree ...
(although having its own railway station, is in parts closer to Knockholt station) at about to the north and west. To avoid confusion with
Halstead
Halstead is a town and civil parish in the Braintree District of Essex, England. Its population of 11,906 in 2011Essex
Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...
it was named after the next closest village. The station is operated by southeastern and only stopping services call here. The platforms, like all stations on the London to Sevenoaks route, has space for 12 coaches. Northbound trains with 8 (or less)coaches will have their rear carriage further up the platform closer to the bridge.
The station has only got step-free access to one platform and has no toilets. This station is for passengers requiring Badgers Mount, Well Hill, Knockholt or Halstead. The ticket office is usually open from 6-9 am on weekdays.
Services
All services at Knockholt are operated by Southeastern using , , and
EMUs
Emus may refer to:
* Emu
The emu (; ''Dromaius novaehollandiae'') is a species of flightless bird endemism, endemic to Australia, where it is the Tallest extant birds, tallest native bird. It is the only extant taxon, extant member of the ...
.
The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is:
* 2 tph to
London Charing Cross
Charing Cross railway station (also known as London Charing Cross) is a London station group, central London railway terminus between the Strand, London, Strand and Hungerford Bridge in the City of Westminster. It is the terminus of the South ...
via and
* 2 tph to
Connections onto fast services to London, and can be made by changing at or . Change at Orpington for services to Cannon Street or London Victoria.
History
When the South Eastern Railway (SER) opened their "cut off" line through Orpington, Sevenoaks to Tonbridge in 1868, there was no station between Chelsfield and Dunton Green. A Knockholt Vestry meeting in March 1871 resolved to request the SER to build a station for Knockholt but this request was initially refused. Eventually, the SER agreed to provide a station if a £3,000 contribution was provided by "local parties," (). This was raised and "Halstead for Knockholt" (the station being much closer to Halstead than Knockholt) was opened in 1876.''A History of Knockholt'', pp. 128–130, by David Waldron Smithers, .
Between 1887 and 1915 a twice daily bus service operated from Knockholt village to the station.
In 1899 the SER joined with its arch rival to form 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 Eas ...
(SECR).
Alfred Smithers
Sir Alfred Waldron Smithers (4 October 1850 – 22 August 1924) was a British businessman and politician, and a pioneer of the railway industry in England and Canada.
Biography
Smithers was born in Brixton, Surrey. His parents, William Henry S ...
, who had moved to Knockholt in 1881, became deputy chairman of the SECR. At the strong suggestion of Smithers, the station name was changed to "Knockholt" in 1900 to avoid the confusion which had arisen with Halstead Station in Essex (and coincidentally giving Smithers a local station named after his village).