Paddock Wood railway station

Railway station in Paddock Wood, Kent

Paddock Wood railway station is on the South Eastern Main Line and Medway Valley Line in south-east England, serving the town of Paddock Wood, Kent. The station also serves the villages of Matfield, Brenchley and Horsmonden, which do not have stations of their own. It is 34 miles 67 chains (56.1 km) down the line from London Charing Cross. The station and all trains calling there are operated by Southeastern.

History

The South Eastern Railway opened a line from Redhill to Ashford and on to Dover during 1842.^[1] This bypassed the county town of Maidstone, and a station named Maidstone Road was opened in a rural location on 31 August 1842 to serve the town, 8 miles (13 km) to the north.^[2] The village of Paddock Wood developed quickly around the station, which took the name Paddock Wood on 25 September 1844 when the branch line to Maidstone West was opened.^[1][3] Another branch line—the Hawkhurst Branch—to the village of Hawkhurst existed between 1892 and 1961.^[4]

In popular culture

Paddock Wood Railway station appears in the novel Dombey and Son by Charles Dickens where, in chapter 55, the villain, Mr Carker, accidentally falls under a train at the station and is killed.^[5]

Platforms

The station has Up and Down platforms (1 and 2 respectively) with a pair of fast lines between them. On the Down side, a bay platform (platform 3) is used for the Medway Valley Line services to Maidstone and beyond. A matching bay platform existed on the Up side when the Hawkhurst branch was in operation. The main station building is on the Up platform; there are long canopies on both platforms. Transfer between platforms is by footbridge.^[6]

Services

All services at Paddock Wood are operated by Southeastern using Class 375 EMUs.

The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is:^[7]

• 2 tph to London Charing Cross
• 1 tph to Dover Priory
• 1 tph to Ramsgate via Canterbury West
• 2 tph to Strood via Maidstone West

Additional services, including trains to and from London Cannon Street and Ramsgate via Deal call at the station during the peak hours.

On Sundays, the service to and from Strood is reduced to hourly.

Accidents

• At 03:40 hrs on 5 May 1919, a goods train from Bricklayers Arms to Margate overran signals and ran into the back of another goods train just to the west of Paddock Wood station. The Margate train was hauled by C class No. 721. It had 50 goods vehicles including three brake vans. The other train was hauled by C class No. 61. The fireman of this train was killed in the accident. Although the main cause of the accident was the driver of the Margate train failing to obey signals, the signalman at Tonbridge East signal box was also censured for failure to give the driver adequate warning that although the train had been accepted by the signalman at Paddock Wood, the line was not fully clear at the junction. The signalman at Paddock Wood had accepted the train under Regulation No 5 - "Section clear but station or junction blocked".^[8]

• On 16 March 1949, "Schools" Class locomotive 30932 Blundells was derailed at the station.^[9]

• At 02:02 on 8 December 1961, a goods train was setting back at Paddock Wood station when the 00:20 goods from Hoo Junction to Tonbridge, hauled by D6506, overran signals and collided with it. The wreckage from the accident piled up under the bridge carrying the B2160 Maidstone Road. The line was blocked for 12 hours.^[10][11][12]

References

Citations

1. Mitchell & Smith 1990, Historical background.
2. Gray 1990, p. 17.
3. Butt 1995, pp. 152, 180.
4. Body, Geoffrey. PSL Field Guide – Railways of the Southern Region (1984), page 142. Patrick Stephens Ltd, Cambridge. ISBN 0-85059-664-5
5. Railways and Culture in Britain: The Epitome of Modernity By Ian Carter
6. Body, page 143.
7. Table 207, 208 National Rail timetable, December 2022
8. Earnshaw, Alan (1993). Trains in Trouble, Volume Eight. Penryn: Atlantic. pp. 8–9. ISBN 0-906899-52-4.
9. "Old Tonbridge in pictures: Railways (local area)". Tonbridge History Society. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
10. "Rail Crash: Inquiry begins". Tonbridge Free Press. Tonbridge. 15 December 1961. pp. 1, 10.
11. "Train crash at Paddock Wood". British Pathé. December 1961. Retrieved 20 November 2012.
12. Lilley 2020, p. 50.

Sources

• 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.
• Gray, Adrian (1990). South Eastern Railway. Middleton Press. ISBN 978-0-906520-85-7.
• Lilley, Simon (2020). The Class 33s A Sixty Year History. Manchester: Crécy Publishing Ltd. ISBN 978-191080-9662.
• Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (1990). Redhill to Ashford. Middleton Press. ISBN 0-906520-73-8.

External links

• Tonbridge Line Commuters - Paddock Wood

• Train times and station information for Paddock Wood railway station from National Rail
• Paddock Wood station on navigable 1940 OS map