Longfield railway station

Longfield
General information
Location	Longfield, Borough of Dartford England
Grid reference	TQ601688
Managed by	Southeastern
Platforms	2
Other information
Station code	LGF
Classification	DfT category D
History
Opened	June 1872
Passengers
2018/19	0.599 million
2019/20	0.586 million
2020/21	0.118 million
2021/22	0.314 million
2022/23	0.370 million
Notes Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Longfield railway station is on the Chatham Main Line in England, serving the villages of Longfield, Hartley, and New Ash Green. It is 23 miles 30 chains (37.6 km) down the line from London Victoria and is situated between Farningham Road and Meopham.

The station and all trains that call are operated by Southeastern.

History

Although situated in Longfield, the station was originally named after Fawkham when it opened in June 1872. The name of a nearby village was chosen as a local land owner had offered land and cash for provision of a station.

The original station was destroyed by fire around 1900, but rebuilt in the same location. The railway line through Fawkham station was electrified in 1939 under the Southern Railway with electric trains operating between Victoria and Gillingham. Steam trains continued to pass through the station on their way to/from the Kent Coast until June 1959 when those services were then also turned over to electric operation under British Railways.

With the start of summer timetable in 1961, the true location of the station was recognised when it was renamed 'Longfield for Fawkham & Hartley' from 12 June. By the end of the 1960s the cumbersome appendences were dropped in favour of plain Longfield, although the longer name survived on some signs and tickets well into the next decade.

The station building built following the fire of 1900 was demolished in 1971 and replaced by the contemporary CLASP prefabricated design favoured by British Rail.^[1]

Usage of the station has grown considerably in the last thirty years, as it rests within a large catchment area of residential development. The frequency of services and journey times to and from London also attracts commuters away from the slower North Kent Line services provided at Gravesend, Northfleet and Swanscombe stations.

Services

All services at Longfield are operated by Southeastern using Class 375, 465 and 466 EMUs.

The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is:^[2]

• 2 tph to London Victoria (1 of these runs non-stop from Bromley South and 1 calls at Denmark Hill)
• 1 tph to Gillingham
• 1 tph to Dover Priory via Canterbury East

During the peak hours, the station is served by an additional hourly service between London Victoria and Gillingham. The station is also served by a number of peak hour services to and from Ramsgate.

On Sundays, the station is served by an hourly service between Dover Priory and London Victoria via Denmark Hill.

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Farningham Road or Bromley South		Southeastern Chatham Main Line		Meopham
	Historical railways
Horton Kirby Boys Home Line open, station closed		London, Chatham and Dover Railway Chatham Main Line		Meopham Line and station open

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Longfield railway station.

• Train times and station information for Longfield railway station from National Rail

51°23′45.87″N 0°18′1.76″E / 51.3960750°N 0.3004889°E / 51.3960750; 0.3004889

This page was last edited on 18 December 2023, at 19:41