The Old Rochester Station
The old Rochester station closed a few months ago.
But you can still see it from the train, as it goes through.
A station man at Gillingham station told me, that the platforms at the old station are sometimes used to turn trains back to London.
When the site is fully cleared, there would probably be some space for sidings to store and reverse trains.
Chatham Station
Chatham station is one of the stations, that could be important to a proposed South London Outer Orbital .
The proposal says that two trains per hour (tph) could go to the Medway Towns.
These are pictures I took of the station, as I passed through.
As I said in Gillingham Station, up to nine trains per hour (tph), could call at all three Medway towns of Rochester, Chatham and Gillingham, so all Chatham station needs to be is a quality two-platform station able to handle twelve-car trains every six or so minutes.
I’m certain Chatham station is up to that!
Gillingham Station
Gillingham station is one of the stations, that could be important to a proposed South London Outer Orbital .
The proposal says that two trains per hour (tph) could go to the Medway Towns. As Gillingham has a new station building and a bay platform 1, which is capable of taking twelve-car trains, it must be a possible terminus.
These are pictures I took of the station, as I passed through.
This Google Map shows Gillingham station.
Gillingham Station
Gillingham would certainly do as a terminal of the South London Orbital Route.
In fact there is tremendous scope for an efficient turning of trains for both the South London Orbital Route and Crossrail in the Medway Towns.
Currently London-bound trains from Gillingham go to the following stations.
- 2tph to London St Pancras via Chatham and Ebbsfleet International
- 3tph to London Victoria via Chatham and Bromley South (1tph calling at Denmark Hill)
- 2tph to London Charing Cross via Dartford and Woolwich Arsenal
I’m not sure, but most trains seem to stop at all three of Gillingham, Chatham and Rochester.The 2 tph from Charing Cross also return to London after terminating in the Bay Platform 1.
If the South London Orbital Route adds two tph to Gillingham from Swanley and Bromley South, then I suspect that the Bay Platform 1 could easily accommodate the current service and the South London Orbital Route.
That would give Gillingham, Chatham and Rochester, their own local 9 tph shuttle. Other places will get jealous.
Abbey Wood Station – 9th June 2016
I took these pictures at Abbey Wood station.
If you look at the various pictures I have taken over the past months of this station, the station is progressing and the builders seem to be managing to always have a working station amongst all the construction work.
Certain factors have helped in this important aim.
- The previous station was unloved by everyone and had absolutely no architectural merit.
- There are no heritage issues.
- Good design of a temporary step-free pedestrian bridge, that appears to be morphing into a permanent one, has aided passengers.
- There always seems to be cheery staff on hand for lost and puzzled passengers.
- Traffic is heavy in the area, but not unmanageably so.
But I think most importantly, the Crossrail portal is some distance away from the station, keeping the two projects effectively separate.
Compared to some station rebuilds, I’ve encountered in the past, so far it has been a textbook example of good project management.
The Anonymous Widower 