Chatham Central railway station

Chatham Central
Site of Chatham Central railway station, now leading into the Rochester Riverside development
General information
Location	Chatham, Borough of Medway England
Operated by	South Eastern Railway
Managed by	South Eastern Railway
Transit authority	None
Line(s)	Chatham Main Line
Platforms	1[1]
Train operators	South Eastern Railway
Connections	Strood railway station, Rochester Common
Construction
Structure type	Timber viaduct over LCDR goods yard
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Opened	1 March 1892
Closed	1 October 1911
Original company	South Eastern Railway[2]
Pre-grouping	South Eastern and Chatham Railway
Key dates
1892-1911	Opened[2]
1 October 1911	Closed
Location

Chatham Central railway station was a former terminus of the South Eastern Railway’s (SER)^[3][4] Rochester & Chatham^[5] Extension from Strood, serving the Medway towns of Chatham and Rochester. The line was opened by the SER to give it its own route to Rochester/Chatham, parallel to the rival London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR) route. Chatham Central station opened on 1 March 1892, built by the SER^[6] on a wooden viaduct (in the Chatham Intra area of Rochester).

An excerpt from the Journal of the Railway & Canal Historical Society, Volume XXVII No. 4, March 1982, states that "the SER did eventually reach Chatham in 1892, at its own station, Chatham Central. The branch line, although a LCDR undertaking, was taken only as far as the Gillingham Gate."^[7]

Chatham Central railway station consisted of a single platform with associated timber buildings.^[8] The extension ran north-east of the existing LCDR line and required its own bridge over the River Medway.^[9]

Timeline of key dates:

• 20 July 1891: First section of the Strood–Chatham extension opened to Rochester (Rochester Common station).^[10]

• 1 March 1892: Chatham Central station opened at the end of the extension.^[11]

• 1 January 1899: The SER and LCDR entered a working union (forming the South Eastern & Chatham Railway, SE&CR).^[12][13]

• 1 October 1911: The Chatham extension (and Chatham Central station) closed as a redundant line.^[14][15]

The SER had reached Strood by 1845,^[16] but had no direct line beyond Rochester until late in the 19th century. To compete with the LCDR, the SER built the Rochester & Chatham Extension. On 20 July 1891 this line opened from Strood to Rochester (with Rochester Common station), and on 1 March 1892 it was extended to Chatham Central. In March 1892, the South Eastern Railway (SER) inaugurated its Chatham Central branch,^[17] including a new iron-girder bridge over the River Medway built on masonry piers^[18] to carry all SER traffic between Strood and Rochester Common station. Until then, the rival London, Chatham & Dover Railway (LCDR) had served Rochester via its own bridge^[19] into Rochester Banks station—opened in 1892 and later renamed Rochester Main Line^[20]—creating two parallel river crossings.^[21] The 1892 SER bridge remained the primary route for Chatham Central branch trains even after a much later, although brief, 1911 "Toomer Loop" connection linked the two lines;^[22] its robust construction and alignment made it the favoured structure for through traffic.

In 1899 the rival companies agreed to work jointly as the South Eastern & Chatham Railway (SE&CR).^[23] The SE&CR quickly moved to eliminate duplication. Chatham Central’s line duplicated the nearby LCDR Chatham station,^[24] and was deemed redundant. On 1 October 1911, after only 19 years of service, Chatham Central (and the extension) was closed.^[25] Rochester Common station which was on the same branch closed the same day.)^[26] The track was soon removed.

In June 1919, a fire destroyed the SER bridge’s timber decking, forcing all services onto the older LCDR bridge until repairs were completed.^[27] Over the next three years, strengthening and repair works, such as reinstating the deck, were undertaken on the SER bridge by the ‘’Cleveland Bridge Company’’, and the bridge was later reopened on January 1922.^[28] The new line ran largely parallel to the existing LCDR route and crossed the Medway on its own iron bridge.^[29] According to heritage records, “Chatham Central [was] so peripheral to Chatham it was actually in Rochester”, and the entire branch proved to be a "white elephant".^[30] Indeed, the LCDR had even built a goods yard^[31][32] (Blue Boar Yard) in the path of the extension, forcing the SER to carry its track on a timber viaduct to pass over it.

On 9 July 1927, South Eastern & Chatham Railway (SECR)—the post-Grouping amalgamation of SER and LCDR^[33]—opened a new connecting line at Strood that rerouted every Strood–Rochester service onto the 1892 SER bridge.^[34] This strategic rationalisation ended regular use of the LCDR structure, as the SR sought to eliminate inherited route duplications . Although the older LCDR piers remained standing (and were even maintained "in readiness" during World War II), no further scheduled traffic ever crossed them.

Today, the 1892 SER bridge^[35] continues in daily use on the North Kent line between Strood and Rochester,^[36] while vestiges of the LCDR crossing still mark the riverbank as a testament to the once-rival lines.^[37]

Chatham Central station lay in the Chatham Intra area (then part of Rochester),^[38] near Doust Way.^[39][40] The station’s single platform and buildings were carried on a long wooden trestle viaduct, built to span the LCDR goods yard below.^[31] Contemporary accounts note that Chatham Central "was not really central to Chatham, nor within the town's boundaries at all".^[9][41] Beyond the platform, the line curved into Chatham; the station likely had only basic facilities and a small station building (no photographs of the station building are known to survive). Apart from the viaduct, the extension had few structures of note.

Historical documents show a broad plan of the South Eastern & Chatham Railway’s Rochester branch, focusing on the Chatham Central Station area. Running roughly west–east, five main running lines approach the station from the left (west), pass beneath “Strood Road,” and fan out into a complex of six platform roads at Chatham Central. Two central island platforms serve the middle four tracks, while the outer pair of tracks serve side platforms. At the eastern end the lines reconverge and cross High Street, before curving southeast toward Chatham town centre. Key features include:

• 

  Road crossings: Strood Road at the western end and High Street at the eastern end, both carried on narrow overbridges.
• Passenger facilities: Two main platform buildings labelled “Booking Office” and “Refreshment Room” on the central islands; station offices and waiting rooms fronting onto High Street.
• Siding accommodation: Goods sidings and carriage storage roads located immediately north of the passenger platforms, with a small goods shed and rail-connected coal stage.
• Signal boxes: One box marked “Chatham North Box” by the Strood Road crossing, and another “Chatham South Box” just east of High Street.
• Landscaping: A row of ornamental trees between the running lines and the station approach.
• Scale: A bar scale of 80 ft to the inch, indicating the station’s overall length of just over 600 ft.^[42]

The second plan is annotated “Abandonment of Chatham Central Line” and shows the former terminus area repurposed for industrial and commercial tenants. The northern half of the site (former running lines and platform roads) has been subdivided into rectangular lease plots behind a new boundary fence. Notable sub‑tenancies include:

• Carriage & Wagon Dept. (S.E.&C.R.): A long range of eight “roofed & enclosed” bays for carriage repair and storage, with adjoining cellars “under refreshment room.”
• J. B. Martin & C. D. Eason (sub‑tenant): Occupying the former engine forecourt and wheelwright’s workshop immediately south of the carriage range.
• Forge & Wheelwright’s Shop: Two substantial buildings fronting on a new service road off High Street.
• Office and Refreshment Blocks: The old station offices near High Street now labelled as “Bookings Office” and “Refreshment Room,” with minor alterations.
• Additional tenants: A banking chamber and clerk’s office in the old concourse, and small “vacant” plots earmarked for prospective occupiers.
• Scale: A bar scale of 40 ft to the inch, with a note that the drawing was prepared by the SE&CR Engineer’s Office, Tooley Street, London, in 1916.^[43]

After closing in 1911,^[44] the station lay derelict and was eventually demolished in 1933. No station buildings or trackworks survived. Today no trace of the original station remains: its site is completely covered by later development.^[45][46] The only surviving remnant of the extension is the Medway bridge at Rochester. This 1892 iron bridge was retained^[47][48] and now carries the eastbound (A2) carriageway over the river.^[49][36]

Medway Towns
North Kent Line & HS1 to London Bridge & St Pancras Chatham Main Line to Victoria & Blackfriars Medway Valley Line to Maidstone West Halling Cuxton Strood Rochester Bridge | Strood (1st) Rochester Bridge Goods station Rochester Common Rochester (2015–) Rochester (1892–2015) River Medway Chatham Gillingham Rainham Chatham Main Line to Faversham, Dover & Ramsgate

51°23′05.10″N 0°30′45.00″E / 51.3847500°N 0.5125000°E / 51.3847500; 0.5125000