- Martin Mill railway station
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Martin Mill Location Place Martin Mill Local authority Dover Operations Station code MTM Managed by Southeastern Number of platforms 2 Live arrivals/departures and station information
from National Rail EnquiriesAnnual rail passenger usage 2004/05 * 32,990 2005/06 * 33,521 2006/07 * 38,199 2007/08 * 40,692 2008/09 * 39,936 History Opened 17 June 1881 National Rail - UK railway stations A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z * Annual passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Martin Mill from Office of Rail Regulation statistics. Please note: methodology may vary year on year. Martin Mill railway station serves Martin Mill in Kent. The station and all trains serving it are operated by Southeastern.
Contents
Service
As of May 2011[update] the typical off-peak service from the station is one train per hour to Ramsgate and one train per hour to London Charing Cross via Dover Priory and Sevenoaks.[1]
Preceding station National Rail Following station Dover Priory Southeastern
Kent Coast LineWalmer History
Martin Mill also served as an important station during both the First and Second World Wars. During the construction of Dover Harbour in 1897 a single track branch was constructed to bring in materials from Martin Mill. The track ran over the surface of the high chalk plateau parallel with the Dover-Deal main line, before climbing up to the summit just at the entrance to Guston tunnel. From there, it ascended to the cliff top, 350 ft above sea level. It then descended in a zig-zag formation on a vertigious shelf which was cut into the cliff, leading down to the eastern part of the harbour. The route was reopened during both wars, and operated mainly by Royal Engineers to deploy mounted artillery on the cliff edge.[2] During the Second World War, the branch served the many gun batteries along the white cliffs between Dover and St Margarets. Along this track ran two track-mounted 14 inch guns/cannons nicknamed Winnie (after Winston Churchill) and Pooh (after the fictional bear). During the war they fired into France at German targets, but accuracy was a problem and more damage was done to local property than their actual targets.[3]
This line also ran down to Dover Harbour along a cliff road.
References
- ^ Network Rail Timetable May 2011: Table 207
- ^ White, H.P. (1987). Forgotten Railways: South-East England (Forgotten Railways Series). Newton Abbott, Devon: David & Charles. pp. 137–138, 158–159. ISBN 0-946537-37-2.
- ^ The Coastguard
External links
- Train times and station information for Martin Mill railway station from National Rail
Coordinates: 51°10′16″N 1°20′53″E / 51.171°N 1.348°E
Categories:- Dover (district)
- Railway stations in Kent
- Former Dover and Deal Joint Railway stations
- Railway stations opened in 1881
- Railway stations served by Southeastern
- DfT Category E stations
- Kent railway station stubs
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