Canterbury South railway station

Canterbury South
The site of the former Canterbury South station in 1990.
General information
LocationCanterbury, Kent
England
Coordinates51°15′58″N 1°05′05″E / 51.266073°N 1.084812°E / 51.266073; 1.084812
Grid referenceTR 153 564
Platforms2
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Pre-groupingSouth Eastern Railway
South Eastern and Chatham Railway
Post-groupingSouthern Railway
Key dates
1 July 1889Opened
1 December 1940Closed to passengers
1 October 1947Closed to freight

Canterbury South was a station on the Elham Valley Railway. It opened in 1889 and closed to passengers in 1940 and freight in 1947.

History

The station opened on 1 July 1889. It was situated on the extension of the Elham Valley Railway from Barham to Harbledown Junction, on the Ashford to Ramsgate line.[1] A 17-lever signal box was provided.[2] Initially, there were six passenger trains per day. By 1906 there were nine trains a day, with five on Sunday. This had reduced to six trains a day by 1922.[3] The double track between Lyminge and Harbledown Junction was reduced to single track from 25 October 1931 and the signal boxes between those points were abolished.[4] Services had been reduced to five trains a day by 1937.[3]

Passenger services between Canterbury West and Lyminge were withdrawn on 1 December 1940 and the line was placed under military control.[1] The military established block posts at Canterbury South and Bishopsbourne, under the control of the Royal Corps of Signals.[2] The station remained open to freight during the war. Military control was relinquished on 19 February 1945. The Elham Valley Railway closed on 1 October 1947.[5]

The site of the station is now covered by the Kent and Canterbury Hospital.[6]


Preceding station   Disused railways   Following station
Canterbury West   Southern Railway
Elham Valley Railway 		  Bridge

References

Citations
  1. ^ a b Mitchell & Smith 1995, Historical Background.
  2. ^ a b Mitchell & Smith 1995, Illustration 105.
  3. ^ a b Mitchell & Smith 1995, Passenger Services.
  4. ^ Mitchell & Smith 1995, Illustrations 104 & 116.
  5. ^ Mitchell & Smith 1995, Historical background.
  6. ^ Mitchell & Smith 1995, Illustration 104.
Sources
  • Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (1995). Branch Lines Around Canterbury. Midhurst: Middleton Press. ISBN 1-873793-58-8.