- Fawkham Junction
Fawkham Junction (coord|51.399495|N|0.285419|E) is a railway junction that currently connects
High Speed 1 with the Kent Rail Network.Originally the Junction was part of the
London, Chatham and Dover Railway 'sGravesend West Line to Gravesend (which was already served by the South Eastern Railway'sNorth Kent Line ). The intermediate stations were: Longfield Halt, Southfleet, Rosherville Halt and Gravesend West. With the amalgamation of the two competing rail companies into theSouth Eastern and Chatham Railway in1899 , the line's future was doomed. Passenger services were curtailed and the line was not electrified, it eventually closed to passengers in1953 and freight services eventually ceased in1976 . Preservation attempts failed.The
Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL) gave part of the line a new lease of life with the rebuilding of the rural section nearSouthfleet as a spur linking the CTRL and theChatham Main Line . Much of the original route was followed but the initial Fawkham Junction was repositioned slightly to allow for higher speeds. Several bridges were also rebuilt alongside or in place of their originals. No stations were reopened. The CTRL was built in two stages and the initial stage (phase 1) was connected to the rail network via this rebuilt line. The completion of phase 2 means this section will not be used byEurostar trains, it is likely it will only receive light use from engineering and non commercial trains.The line is the changeover between the third rail (750V DC) and overhead (25kV AC) systems of electrification.
External links
* [http://www.kentrail.co.uk/Fawkham%20Junction.htm Kent Rail's page on Fawkham Junction]
* [http://www.kentrail.co.uk/southfleet.htm Kent Rail's page on Southfleet Junction]
* [http://www.kentrail.co.uk/Gravesend%20West.htm Kent Rail's page on Gravesend West]
* [http://www.subbrit.org.uk/sb-sites/stations/g/gravesend_west_street/ Disused Station's page on Gravesend West]
* [http://www.subbrit.org.uk/sb-sites/stations/r/rosherville_halt/ Disused Station's page on Rosherville Halt]
* [http://www.subbrit.org.uk/sb-sites/stations/s/southfleet/ Disused Station's page on Southfleet]
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