Bat & Ball railway station

Bat & Ball National Rail
Location
Place Sevenoaks
Local authority District of Sevenoaks
Coordinates 51°17′24″N 0°11′39″E / 51.2899°N 0.1942°E / 51.2899; 0.1942Coordinates: 51°17′24″N 0°11′39″E / 51.2899°N 0.1942°E / 51.2899; 0.1942
Grid reference TQ530568
Operations
Station code BBL
Managed by Southeastern
Number of platforms 2
DfT category F2
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections
from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2004/05 Increase 68,671
2005/06 Increase 71,586
2006/07 Increase 91,963
2007/08 Increase 0.108 million
2008/09 Decrease 0.104 million
2009/10 Decrease 81,820
2010/11 Decrease 75,416
2011/12 Increase 75,692
2012/13 Decrease 74,214
2013/14 Increase 78,182
History
Original company Sevenoaks, Maidstone and Tonbridge Railway
Pre-grouping SE&CRCJMC
Post-grouping Southern Railway
2 June 1862 Opened as Sevenoaks[1]
1 August 1869 Renamed as Sevenoaks Bat & Ball[1]
1 January 1917 Closed[1]
1 March 1919 Reopened[1]
5 June 1950 Renamed as Bat & Ball[2]
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Bat & Ball from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Bat & Ball railway station is located on Bat & Ball Road in Sevenoaks in Kent, England. The station is managed by Southeastern however all train services (except for two evening peak departures) are operated and provided by Thameslink.

History

The station opened in 1862.[1] It was previously named Sevenoaks Bat & Ball and was renamed in 1950.[2] The name derives from the Bat & Ball Inn, which no longer exists.

The station in 1962

Facilities

Bat and Ball railway station lies just to the north of Sevenoaks, Kent, on the Sevenoaks-Swanley via Otford route. There is a shelter containing a bench on the northbound platform, and in August 2014 new benches and a public information speaker were installed on the southbound platform towards Sevenoaks. It has been unstaffed since closure of the booking office on 30 November 1991 - although its staffing had been sporadic prior to that date.

Southeastern have fitted an electronic screen with the latest train times and calling points.

The station has a car park. In 2010 a fee of £3 per day to park was introduced, although the car park was previously free to use. The charges resulted in the displacement of parking by rail commuters from the station car park into the surrounding residential streets, particularly into Chatham Hill Road. This has created several parking problems for local residents, whilst leaving the station's car park almost deserted.[3]

A PERTIS 'permit to travel' machine is located at the entrance to the southbound platform on the 'down' side. Prior to de-staffing in 1991, it had converted from the previous NCR21 card ticket system to APTIS on 12 April 1988. A rare misprint on some tickets issued just after conversion to APTIS rendered the station name as BAT BALL.

Services at Bat & Ball

Monday to Friday Off-Peak -

Saturday, Sunday & Bank Holidays -

Preceding station National Rail Following station
Otford   Thameslink
Sevenoaks Line 		  Sevenoaks
Disused railways
Terminus   London, Chatham and Dover Railway
Maidstone Line		   Otford Junction
Terminus   London, Chatham and Dover Railway
Maidstone Line		   Kemsing

Passenger Representation

Sevenoaks Town Council and the Sevenoaks Rail Travellers Association have founded a Friends of Bat & Ball group to promote improvements to the station and its environment.

The not-for-profit Sevenoaks Rail Travellers' Association (SRTA) corresponds and meets with Southeastern Railway, Thameslink, Transport for London, the Department for Transport, members of parliament and other relevant parties to represent the interests of passengers using Sevenoaks and stations nearby including Bat & Ball.

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Butt (1995), page 208
  2. 1 2 Butt (1995), page 29
  3. ↑ "Residents' fury as commuters' cars clog roads". Kent and Sussex Courier (Local World Limited). 12 November 2010. Retrieved 22 December 2014.

Sources

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, March 17, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.