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's Gravesend West Line to Gravesend (which was already served by the South Eastern Railway's North Kent Line). The intermediate stations were: Longfield Halt, Southfleet, Rosherville Halt and Gravesend West. With the amalgamation of the two competing rail companies into the South Eastern and Chatham Railway in 1899, the line's future was doomed. Passenger services were curtailed and the line was not electrified, it eventually closed to passengers in 1953 and freight services eventually ceased in 1976. 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 near Southfleet as a spur linking the CTRL and the Chatham 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 by Eurostar 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]