Folkestone West railway station

Folkestone West
Location
Place	Cheriton
Local authority	District of Shepway
Grid reference	TR209364
Operations
Station code	FKW
Managed by	Southeastern
Number of platforms	2
DfT category	E
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2004/05	79,810
2005/06	82,527
2006/07	0.154 million
2007/08	0.195 million
2008/09	0.226 million
2009/10	0.209 million
2010/11	0.287 million
2011/12	0.313 million
2012/13	0.316 million
2013/14	0.341 million
2014/15	0.478 million
History
1 November 1863	Opened as "Shorncliffe Camp"
2 July 1926	Renamed (Shorncliffe)
10 September 1962	Renamed (Folkestone West)
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Folkestone West from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Folkestone West railway station is one of two open railway stations in Folkestone in Kent, England. The station is operated by Southeastern.

The ticket office, in a room on the extensive 'up' side buildings on the London-bound platform, is manned only during part of the day; at other times a PERTIS 'permit to travel' machine, located outside the ticket office, suffices. The substantial 'down side' platform building is occupied as offices by Network Rail.

History

The South Eastern Main Line reached Folkestone in 1843, with a station being opened at Folkestone Junction (Folkestone East) on 18 December 1843. Folkestone West was opened in 1863 as Shorncliffe Camp, initially with two platform faces either side of double track. In 1881 the station was rebuilt with two platform faces either side of four tracks. Sometime around 1887 a bay was added to the down platform as from 1887 to 1947 the station served as the southern terminus and interchange for the Elham Valley Railway with services to Canterbury. The station was altered during the 1960-61 East Kent Electrication as the line from Folkestone Central to near the site of Cheriton Junction was quadrupled. Following the opening of the Channel Tunnel and the loss of the boat train traffic, in 1994 the two centre tracks were removed.^[1]

In 2008 alterations were made on the north side of the station to provide car parking and coach loading bays, the latter in connection with the operation of the 'Orient Express' which until then operated from Folkestone Harbour Station.

Services

The off-peak service as of December 2011 is:

• 1tph (trains per hour) to London St Pancras
• 2tph to London Charing Cross, which run via Sevenoaks
• 3tph to Dover Priory of which one continues to Ramsgate^[2]

From 2 January 2015 the off peak service will be:

• 1tph (trains per hour) to London St Pancras
• 1tph to London Charing Cross, which run via Sevenoaks
• 2tph to Dover Priory of which one continues to St Pancras via Ramsgate, Faversham and Chatham

Venice Simplon Orient Express transferred their services to a new facility at Folkestone West from their original location at Folkestone Harbour.^[3] VSOE runs two trains per week between the end of March and the beginning of November.

Eastbound services beyond Folkestone Central are suspended until December 2016, due to major damage to the embankment & sea wall near Shakespeare Tunnel caused by tidal surges & high winds in late December 2015. Buses replace trains whilst a new 235m long viaduct is constructed to carry the track and the sea wall is rebuilt & reinforced.

References

1. "Folkestone West at kentrail.co.uk". Retrieved 5 February 2009.
2. Table 207 National Rail timetable, December 2011
3. Railway Herald Issue 127

External links

• Train times and station information for Folkestone West railway station from National Rail

Coordinates: 51°05′06″N 1°09′14″E / 51.085°N 1.154°E