Dartford Station Upgrade, United Kingdom

Dartford railway station is located in the town of Dartford in Kent, UK. It is a busy junction which serves three rail routes. Southeastern (SER) manages the station and also operates all the train services from the station.

A major upgrade was initiated at the Dartford station by Network Rail in September 2011. The upgrade is expected to be completed by the end of 2012.

It is being financed by the Homes and Communities Agency through Dartford Borough Council (who gave £6.073m or $9.51m) and the national stations improvement programme (which pledged £1m or $1.57m).

The upgraded station is expected to serve three million people a year.

History of Dartford railway station

The station was first opened in July 1849. It initially had two platforms. The third and fourth platforms were added in 1897 and 1973 respectively. The station building was constructed using timber and bricks in Italianate style.

An extensive modernisation of the station was initiated in 1972. The security facilities at the station were refurbished in 1997 at a cost of £580,000.

The station acts as a node for three lines. The north Kent line, which connects Gravesend to Dartford and Medway Towns, was opened in 1849. The Dartford Loop Line opened in 1866 and connects London to Dartford via Sidcup. The Bexleyheath Line was opened in 1895 by Bexley Heath Railway, but later was taken over by SER. All the three lines were electrified in June 1926.

Infrastructure and construction

The £7m ($10.96m) design build contract for the station upgrade has been awarded to Osborne. The scope of the contract includes demolishing the present station building and construction of a three-storey building in its place, while creating a new ticket office and concourse to facilitate easier movement of passengers during busy times.

The upgrades include installing better passenger facilities such as construction of new toilets and retail stores at the ground level of the station. New parking bays will be built, the canopies on platforms one and two will be extended and new waiting facilities will be built on platforms one and two. New weather shields will be constructed on platforms three and four. The open space in front of the station will be increased by demolishing the railway staff offices and relocating them to the first and second floors of the newly constructed station building.

Osborne broke ground for the construction works of the upgrade on 11 September 2011. Site preparation works for the new station building have been started. The temporary ticket office construction is in progress and is expected to be completed by October 2011. Construction on the platform improvisation facilities will continue from November 2011 to March 2012.

Installation of waiting shelters on platforms one and two and staff accommodations will be completed between April 2012 and July 2012.

Construction of new station building and extension of canopies is scheduled to be completed between August 2011 and October 2011.

Extension of car park and landscaping works are expected to be completed between November 2011 and January 2012. Construction on the upgrade is scheduled to last for 15 months and is expected to be completed by Winter 2012.

The train services at the station will operate normally during the construction phase.

Services

The station is currently used by rail services on the north Kent line, Bexleyheath line and Dartford Loop line. The train services from the station are connected to London Cannon Street, Woolwich Arsenal, Bexleyheath, Greenhithe and Gravesend stations.

Facilities

The station has four platforms and a car park with 196 spaces. The passenger facilities include automatic ticket gates, display boards on platforms, foot over bridge, three ticket counters, female toilet and baby change facilities, waiting rooms, retail stores and lift. The British Transport Police looks after security at the station.