Margate railway station

Platform view

BR Standard 2-6-2T at Margate in 1958

Margate railway station serves the town of Margate in Thanet in Kent, England. Train services are provided by Southeastern.

Trains from the station generally run to London Victoria via Chatham, or to London St Pancras via Ramsgate, Canterbury West and Ashford International. Peak hour trains run to St Pancras via Chatham and Gravesend and to London Cannon Street.

History

Ramsgate and Margate
Legend
Margate Sands Margate West Chatham Main Line to London Victoria Margate East Tivoli Broadstairs To Ashford and Dover Dumpton Park St Lawrence Ramsgate Ramsgate Town Ramsgate Harbour
The arrangement inherited by the Southern Railway in 1923 with the lines and stations closed in 1926 shown in pink (St Lawrence for Pegwell Bay had closed in 1916). The dotted line represents the new surface line and stations. Ramsgate and Dumpton Park both opened in 1926.

Trains first reached Ramsgate in April 1846 when the South Eastern Railway (SER) opened a line from Canterbury. It terminated at Ramsgate SER, later to be called Ramsgate Town. Later the same year the line opened across Thanet to Margate, to Margate SER, (later Margate Sands). Trains from Canterbury for Margate had to reverse at Ramsgate Town; a chord was built bypassing the station, but not often used. St Lawrence station was opened in 1864 just before this chord but closed in 1916.

The London Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR) reached Margate from Herne Bay in 1863. This called at Margate C&D (later Margate West), East Margate (later Margate East), Broadstairs and via a 1,630 yards (1,490 m) tunnel terminated at Ramsgate C&D (later Ramsgate Harbour), located near the harbour and beach.

This arrangement was inherited by Southern Railway on grouping in 1923. To simplify the arrangement in 1926 a new line was opened connecting the SER line from the site of St Lawrence for Pegwell Bay to the LCDR line just south of Broadstairs. The current Ramsgate station and a new station at Dumpton Park were built on this new line. The Ramsgate Harbour station, line through the tunnel, and the Ramsgate Town station and old SER line across to Margate Sands were all closed in July 1926. Margate West station was renamed Margate in 1926. Margate East closed in 1953.

Until 1967 a service operated between Margate and Birkenhead Woodside via Ashford, Redhill, Reading, Oxford, Birmingham Snow Hill and Shrewsbury. The stock was provided on alternate days by successors to the Southern Railway and the Great Western. At Ashford a portion from Sandwich, Deal and Dover was attached/detached, likewise a Brighton portion at Redhill.

Architecture

Margate railway station is a grade II listed building, designed by Edwin Maxwell Fry and opened in 1926.

In the media

The station was featured in Only Fools and Horses, in the 1989 episode The Jolly Boys' Outing.

Services

As of 2015 the typical off-peak service from the station is:

• 1tph to London St Pancras via Chatham and Ebbsfleet International
• 1tph to London St Pancras via Ramsgate, Deal, Dover Priory and Ashford International
• 1tph to London Victoria via Chatham and Bromley South
• 1tph to Ramsgate
• 1tph to London St Pancras via Ramsgate, Canterbury West, Ashford International and Ebbsfleet International

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Westgate-on-Sea		Southeastern Chatham Main Line - Ramsgate Branch		Broadstairs
Broadstairs		Southeastern Ashford to Ramsgate (via Canterbury West) line		Terminus
Birchington-on-Sea		Southeastern High Speed 1 St Pancras International to St Pancras International Circular		Broadstairs
Broadstairs		Southeastern High Speed 1 London-Margate via Ashford		Terminus

External links

• Train times and station information for Margate railway station from National Rail