East Kent Railway

The East Kent Railway (EKR) was an early railway operating between Strood and the town of Faversham in Kent England, during 1858 and 1859. In the latter year it changed its name to the London, Chatham and Dover Railway to reflect its ambitions to build a rival line from London to Dover via Chatham and Canterbury. The line as far as Canterbury was opened in 1860 and the extension to Dover Priory railway station 22 July 1861. The route to Victoria station, London, via the Mid-Kent line and the West End of London and Crystal Palace Railway opened on 1 November 1861.

Although it was a relatively prosperous and well-populated area, the north of the county of Kent was poorly served by railways during the 1840s. the South Eastern Railway (SER) had chosen a roundabout southerly route to Dover of 88 miles (142 km), compared to 67 miles (108 km) 'as the crow flies', and had built branches to the main towns in the north of the county from this line. As a result, it was 102 miles (164 km) by the main SER route from London to Margate and Deal although only 75 miles (121 km) by road. The cathedral city of Rochester and the important dockyards of Chatham had no rail link nearer than Strood, on the opposite side of the River Medway. Furthermore, the towns of Faversham, Sittingbourne and the Isle of Sheppey had no railway communication at all. As the SER was then unwilling to undertake new capital projects a large meeting was held at Rochester on 29 January 1850 to discuss the need for a railway connecting Strood to Dover. The idea of a new independent railway was adopted, but lack of financial support meant that it would be three years before any concrete scheme could be proposed.

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