Appledore Railway Station (Kent)
The station was constructed in 1851 by the South Eastern Railway and designed by William Tress. It became a junction station in 1881 when a branch line opened to Lydd and New Romney; this closed to passengers in 1967 following the Beeching Report, though the line remains open for goods traffic to Dungeness Nuclear Power Station. Despite a recommendation in the report that Appledore should also close, it has remained open into the 21st century.
Name and location
According to National Rail, this station's official name is Appledore (Kent), despite the other Appledore station in Devon having closed in 1917. On official documents and railway company websites, the station is referred to as Appledore (Kent), although signs at the station simply list 'Appledore'.
The station is located almost two miles from Appledore village and 8+1⁄2 miles (13.7 km) south of Ashford International, on the B2080, a local road. Owing to its distance from the village, it is in the Parish of Kenardington, not Appledore.
Appledore is just north of a junction of a freight branch line running to Dungeness nuclear power station via Lydd. Appledore is also the start of the single track section of the Marshlink line, which runs through to Ore near Hastings with a passing loop at Rye. Along with several other stations on the line, the platforms are staggered.
When British Rail introduced widespread provision of enamel totem station signs Appledore was one of very few that had some wooden ones fitted.
History
The station was first proposed by the South Eastern Railway (SER) in June 1848 as a stop on the Ashford to Hastings line. That September, hop planters near Appledore petitioned the early construction of the line to help with harvest; however a formal decision to build a station was not taken until June 1850.
The station was designed, along with others along the line, by William Tress. The main building was built in an Italianate style with red brick with a Welsh slate roof. It opened, along with the rest of the line on 13 February 1851. A pub, the Man of Kent Railway Tavern was built in 1853 on the opposite side of the road (now the B2080). It was rebuilt adjacent to the station in the late 19th century. A waiting room was built in 1894, followed by a goods shed in 1896 and a station master's house the following year.
In 1881, Appledore was upgraded to become a junction station to cater for a branch line to Lydd, with new signals installed. The branch line opened on 7 December, and was further extended to New Romney in 1884. The station platforms were widened in June 1887 to accommodate longer trains. A line was also proposed from Appledore to Tenterden, but this was never built.
The SER subsequently merged with the London, Chatham and Dover Railway to form the South Eastern and Chatham Railway. It became part of the Southern Railway during the Grouping of 1923. The station then passed on to the Southern Region of British Railways on nationalisation in 1948.
The goods shed was closed in 1963. Appledore ceased to be a junction station for passengers when the branch line to Lydd and New Romney closed in 1967. However, it continued to be used for goods traffic to Dungeness.
When Sectorisation was introduced in the 1980s, the station was served by Network SouthEast until the Privatisation of British Railways.
In 2001, the station building and goods shed were Grade II listed. The main building is in good condition and has been largely unaltered since its original 1851 construction.
APTIS was once provided here until the booking office closed in the very early 1990s leaving no ticketing facilities. In 2016 Southern installed a new self-service ticket machine. The office buildings on the Ashford-bound platform are unused.
Accidents and incidents
- On 14 March 1980, an empty stock train comprising five Hastings Unit vehicles derailed due to excessive speed through a set of points. The driver was killed. A motor coach was consequently withdrawn from service due to extensive damage.
- On 31 July 1989, 2H diesel-electric multiple unit 205 101 collided with a van on the level crossing.
Services
All services at Appledore are operated by Southern using Class 171 DMUs.
The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is:
- 1 tph to Eastbourne via Hastings
- 1 tph to Ashford International
Previously, westbound trains ran as an express service to Brighton although this was changed to a stopping service to Eastbourne in the May 2018 timetable change.
| Preceding station |  National Rail
|
Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rye | Southern |
Ham Street | ||
| Disused railways | ||||
| Terminus | British Rail Southern Region |
Brookland Halt Line open, station closed
| ||
References
Citations
- ^ Historic England. "Appledore Railway Station (1245943)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
- ^ "Appledore (Kent) (APD)". National Rail. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
- ^ Barnes, Julia; Richards, Maureen; Barnes, Anthony (2013). Northam, Westward Ho! & District Through Time. Amberley Publishing Limited. p. 82. ISBN 978-1-4456-1861-6.
- ^ "Appledore Station area and Railway". Appledore Local History Society. 18 March 2018. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
- ^ "The Village". Appledore Local History Society. 24 June 2016. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
- ^ Gray 1990, p. 228.
- ^ Sissons 2008, p. 411.
- ^ "A Pictorial Guide to some of our Railwayana". Railwayana website. 4 May 2018. Retrieved 4 May 2018. Shows a photo of a wooden sign from Appledore station.
- ^ Gray 1990, pp. 209–211.
- ^ "Survey of the St. Leonards and Hastings to Ashford Line by the Government Inspector". Sussex Advertiser. England. 31 December 1850. Retrieved 24 July 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ Gray 1990, p. 211.
- ^ Gray 1990, p. 213.
- ^ Gray 1990, p. 52.
- ^ Historic England. "Goods Shed at Appledore Railway Station (1245944)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
- ^ "Kent railway lines that have been closed for decades could be reopening". Kent Live. 30 November 2017. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
- ^ Beecroft 1986, p. 63.
- ^ McCrickard, John P (6 October 2016). "January 1989 to December 1989". Network South East Railway Society. Archived from the original on 26 June 2018. Retrieved 26 June 2018.
- ^ Table 196 National Rail timetable, December 2021
- ^ "Plans to axe unpopular two-carriage Eastbourne train service". Eastbourne Herald. 4 July 2017. Archived from the original on 30 May 2019. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
- ^ "Marshlink's reliability". Rye News. 5 July 2018. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
Sources
- Beecroft, Geoffrey (1986). The Hastings Diesels Story. Chessington: Southern Electric Group. ISBN 0-906988-20-9. OCLC 17226439.
- Gray, Adrian (1990). South Eastern Railway. Middleton Press. ISBN 978-0-906520-85-7.
- Sissons, Rob (2008). Single Track Obsession: A Book of Extraordinary Railway Journeys. Trafford Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4251-6239-9.
- Butt, R. V. J. (October 1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199. OL 11956311M.
- Jowett, Alan (2000). Jowett's Nationalised Railway Atlas (1st ed.). Penryn, Cornwall: Atlantic Transport Publishers. ISBN 978-0-906899-99-1. OCLC 228266687.
Further reading
- Leigh, Chris (March 2005). "Editor visits: Appledore". Model Rail. No. 77. Peterborough: EMAP Active. pp. 52–55. ISSN 1369-5118. OCLC 173324502.
External links
- Train times and station information for Appledore railway station from National Rail
- Appledore at Disused Stations - history about the station and lines