Southfleet railway station
| Southfleet | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| Place | Southfleet |
| Area | Dartford, Kent |
| Grid reference | TQ615720 |
| Operations | |
| Pre-grouping |
London, Chatham and Dover Railway South Eastern and Chatham Railway |
| Post-grouping |
Southern Railway Southern Region of British Railways |
| Platforms | 2 |
| History | |
| 10 May 1886 | Opened |
| 3 August 1953 | Closed |
| Disused railway stations in the United Kingdom | |
| Closed railway stations in Britain A B C D–F G H–J K–L M–O P–R S T–V W–Z |
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Southfleet (also known as Southfleet for Springhead) was a railway station on the Gravesend West Line which served the small village of Southfleet in Kent, England.
Southfleet, the only village of any size between Longfield and Gravesend, was the first stop on the London, Chatham and Dover Railway's Gravesend branch line. The line skirted the western boundary of the village, passing under two overbridges before reaching the station site just to the north of the present day B262 Station Road. The station was actually sited some distance from the village from which it took its name, being at a midway point between Southfleet village and the hamlet of Springhead. It was equipped with an island platform and provided with both passenger and freight facilities - a goods shed and goods yard with 5-ton crane - together with a signal box. The station accounted for the majority of the line's freight which comprised fruit and agricultural products, particularly blackberries picked in the area.
Architecturally, the station's buildings were similar in style to those at Gravesend West, solidly-built of yellow in a slightly Gothic style. A house was provided for the stationmaster - a Victorian villa - near to which were four semi-detached railway cottages. All the main station buildings were on the island platform, meaning that no platform tickets were issued as it was necessary to enter the platform in order to purchase a ticket.
Although ultimately never successful, the Gravesend branch began to suffer in the face of competition from local bus services following the Second World War, and freight dropped off. As an economy measure, Southfleet lost its status as a station and became an unstaffed halt in Spring 1953. Worse was to follow a few months later when the decision was made to close all stations on the line to passenger traffic as from 3 August 1953. In 1959, the branch was singled and the platform buildings at Southfleet were demolished along with those at neighbouring Longfield. Following the withdrawal of freight services at Gravesend West station in March 1968, the line was cut back to a point approximately 1100 yards to the north of Southfleet (as far as a bridge over the A2), the track beyond that point being lifted to sever the physical connection with Gravesend. It has been suggested that the line was truncated simply to deprive the various paper mills and cement plants (which, until that point, had their own sidings at Gravesend West) of their rail connection based on British Rail's "hatred" of private sidings.
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