Transport in Kent

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Transportation needs within the county of Kent in South East England has been served by both historical and current transport systems.

Roads

Medway Valley, south of Rochester

The earliest footpaths and roads in Kent ran in a north-east/south-west direction. They followed the natural contours of the land and took advantage of the gaps in the

Tunbridge Wells.[1] With the increased traffic on these roads, the main towns were bypassed; and then in the 1960s two motorways were built: the M2 from Medway to Faversham, and the M20 from Swanley to Folkestone. Part of the M25 runs through Kent, from Westerham to the Kent and Essex tunnel at Dartford. Even these roads have failed to provide adequate capacity, and are upgraded and widened from time to time. The Dartford Tunnel was supplemented by the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge
, allowing four lanes in each direction. This is a toll crossing.

Water

The rivers, canals, and ports of Kent

The Cinque Ports were important mediaeval ports. They were Sandwich, Dover, Hythe, Romney and Hastings, and later Rye and Winchelsea. All of these have silted up, with the exception of Dover which is a busy RORO ferry port. Ramsgate is a container port. The Medway Estuary has been an important port and naval base for 500 years. The River Medway is tidal up to Allington and navigable up to Tonbridge. There are two canals in Kent, the Royal Military Canal between Hythe and Rye, which is still extant, and the Thames and Medway Canal between Strood and Gravesend. Built in 1824, it was bought up by the railways in 1846 and backfilled.[1]

The Port of Dover is the major port.

Railways

Railways in Kent

The earliest locomotive driven, passenger carrying railway in Britain was the

Hastings via Tunbridge Wells (1845–52). SER's major London termini were London Bridge, Charing Cross, and Cannon Street
.

Kent also had a second major railway, the

Ashford via Maidstone (1862), and a second London terminus (Blackfriars leading on to Holborn Viaduct
- 1864–65).

1933 poster for the Southern Railway's newly electrified suburban services

The extensive competition saw the SER build a very expensive deviation via Orpington and Sevenoaks to avoid the lengthy and circuitous route via Redhill, opening in 1868. Thus towns such as Bromley, Gravesend, Strood, Rochester, Chatham, Sevenoaks, Maidstone, Canterbury, Whitstable, Ramsgate, Margate, Dover and Ashford 'enjoyed' having two stations.

The competition severely strained the resources of both companies, the LCDR given its later start, and the SER with neighbouring LBSCR to the west in Sussex and Surrey. Co-operation broke out with a

joint line between Dover and Deal, but despite a carve up agreement of coastal traffic, competition still persisted leading to Thames terminals being constructed in the middle of the North Kent marshes by both companies (the Hundred of Hoo Railway and the Port Victoria branch). Eventually a "merger" by form of a "managing committee" (to avoid capital gains tax) was agreed and the South Eastern and Chatham Railway (SECR) was formed in 1899. Only some minor rationalisation was able to occur prior to World War I
(the SER's Chatham branch closed, various connecting chords were constructed, etc.).

In the aftermath of World War I, with the SECR having borne extensive amounts of war traffic, the government "

Southern Railway
in 1921.

Southern kept closed some inner London routes closed under wartime austerity measures, but embarked upon continuing SECR's rationalisation and a roll out of 660 V DC

London commuter belt
. The major item of rationalisation was the extensive work on Thanet, which saw the duplication removed.

World War II further devastated the railways, and post war the government nationalised the railways, forming

Westerham, Hundred of Hoo (passengers only), and Gravesend West
.

A Eurostar train at km 48 on High Speed 1, near Strood

By the 1980s, the

Lille, Paris and Brussels. Extra commuter services to London served by Class 395
"Javelins" were introduced in 2009.

The late 1980s saw the organization of the railways change again, first with the "sectorisation" of

Southern also run some services to Tonbridge and Ashford International
.

Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway

In addition to the "mainline" railways there are several light, heritage and industrial railways in Kent. There are three heritage, standard gauge railways;

Sittingbourne & Kemsley Light Railway
.

Air

Muswell Manor, Isle of Sheppey - the birthplace and cradle of British aviation

Kent was the forefront of the development of aviation in the UK with the

Rochester Airport
.

Military Aviation was widespread throughout the county, with the embryonic

Manston
, near Ramsgate. Many other air stations sprung up across the county due to its strategic position aside the channel and in the most direct flight path of enemy bombers heading for the capital and other targets (e.g. Chatham Dockyard was bombed in World War I).

Shorts Sunderland
flying boat

With the approach of

United States Air Forces in Europe. Due to its length, it was a V-bomber dispersal base. Due to their short runways (Biggin Hill and West Malling), but more generally Post Cold war defence cuts and the populated nature of Kent, the RAF bases were closed in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The other World War II airfields have largely been developed over the years (as has West Malling). Shorts seaplane business closed after the Second World War with the demise the Flying Boat business, while the works at Rochester airport continue to make military aviation equipment, currently owned by BAE Systems
.

RAF fighters, most notably the Spitfire (pictured) and Hurricane fought the Battle of Britain across the skies of Kent

Manston Airport was used as a commercial airport from 1989 until its closure in 2014. It is set to reopen in 2025 or 2026, with cargo and short haul flights taking off from it by 2028 or 2029.

Currently Biggin Hill and

Luton
airports). A limited number of charter flights and private jets use Lydd ("London Ashford") and Biggin Hill ("London Biggin Hill"). The remoteness of Lydd hinders further development.

Light aviation continues in Kent at the grass airfields of Rochester and Headcorn and at the two tarmaced airfields. The continued urbanisation of Kent and planning constraints have in recent times threatened Rochester airport with development, while continued aviation activities still encounter opposition on the grounds of noise pollution.

Bus

Up until the

1986 deregulation of the bus industry, many bus services were operated by municipal bus companies such as Boro'line Maidstone and Maidstone Corporation Transport. Other privately owned operators such as the East Kent Road Car Company and Maidstone & District were absorbed by the National Bus Company
.

After deregulation these were gradually taken over by large transport groups and today operators include

Stagecoach in East Kent and Southdown PSV
.

Commuter services are operated by Chalkwell Coaches, The Kings Ferry and Redwing Coaches into Central London.[3][4][5]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Jessup, Frank W. (1966). Kent History Illustrated. Kent County Council.
  2. ^ Keegan, John (1989). Times Atlas of the Second World War.
  3. ^ Chalkwell says London coach commute is competitive Transport News Brief 6 January 2014
  4. ^ New Kings Ferry service Bus & Coach Buyer 26 August 2015
  5. ^ Gravesend to London Commuter Service Redwing Coaches
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