# Dartford railway station

Dartford railway station serves the town of Dartford in Kent, England. It is 17 miles 12 chains (27.6 km) down the line from London Charing Cross. Train services from the station are operated by Southeastern and Thameslink. Southeastern also manages the station. Dartford is a major interchange station in the North Kent region of the Southeastern network. Ticket barriers control access to the platforms.
Dartford Railway Station has become the busiest station in Kent with an annual passenger usage of 4.62 million in 2018/19. Between 2018 and 2019, use of the station increased by 11%, a much higher rate than other stations across Kent. More people use Dartford railway station than Ebbsfleet International and all the other stations in the Borough put together.
The station is where three lines from London meet:
* the North Kent Line, via Woolwich Arsenal
* the Bexleyheath line
* the Dartford Loop Line via Sidcup.
Westbound services normally terminate at London Charing Cross, London Cannon Street (both via London Bridge), London Victoria and, for Thameslink trains, Luton and Bedford. Services from London also continue through Dartford to Greenhithe (for Bluewater) to terminate at Gravesend, Strood, Rochester or Gillingham. Thameslink trains terminate at Rainham.
Many of the terminating services at Dartford form London bound services, but the remainder will be stabled and maintained at Slade Green Depot approximately two miles west on the North Kent Line. There are several sidings to the east of the station where terminating trains can be stabled until such time as needed to return to Dartford to form London bound services or until drivers are available to return the train to Slade Green Depot.

## History

The first station was opened here by the South Eastern Railway. It extended its North Kent Line from Gravesend on 30 July 1849, taking the line from there to London. The original station building had an Italianate design; this was replaced by a glass and metal ticket office complex in 1972. A footbridge leads across the line to the two island platforms.
Replacement of the 1972 station building was approved in 2011, with enabling works started late that year, and major works commenced in mid-2012. The new building was completed in November 2013.

## Future development

In the future, Dartford station may form part of a Crossrail extension line, linking to Canary Wharf, London Paddington station, Heathrow Airport and Reading.

## Trivia

In 1961, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards met by chance at the station, going on to be the core writing team of the Rolling Stones. There is a plaque on the London-bound platform to commemorate this fact.
Dartford railway station gained a lot of attention due to the high numbers of people travelling using this line, mistakenly not knowing that Oyster cards were not valid, and there was evidence of being approached by staff and receiving penalty fares. In September 2015 Transport for London extended the London fare zones to add Dartford to zone 8, thus allowing Oyster and Contactless payment methods to be used there.

## Services

Services at Dartford are operated by Southeastern and Thameslink using Class 376, 465, 466, 700 and 707 EMUs.
The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is:
* 4 tph to London Charing Cross via Sidcup (2 of these run direct and 2 run via Lewisham)
* 1 tph to London Charing Cross via Bexleyheath
* 2 tph to London Victoria via Bexleyheath
* 2 tph to London Cannon Street via Woolwich Arsenal and Lewisham
* 2 tph to Luton via Woolwich Arsenal and Greenwich
* 4 tph to Gravesend (2 of these call at all stations and 2 call at Greenhithe only)
* 2 tph to Rainham via Chatham
Additional services call at the station during the peak hours.
During the morning peak, additional services call at this station, trains to London Charing Cross via Bexleyheath are increased to 2tph. Additional trains run via Greenwich & Sidcup from Gillingham and Strood. Additional Sidcup services run non-stop between New Eltham & London Bridge, missing Mottingham, Lee, Hither Green and Lewisham.
During the evening peak, additional services call at this station to Strood and Gillingham via Bexleyheath & Sidcup respectively.
The station receives additional services after 22:00 as trains that would have run to Slade Green (loop) via Bexleyheath or Greenwich, from London Cannon Steet, are diverted to Dartford. Additionally, after this hour all trains via Sidcup call at Lewisham.
All platforms 1-4 are bi-directional and services may be altered subject to operational circumstances, during normal operating hours of service Platform 4 is used for services down North Kent; Southeastern services terminating at Gravesend and Gillingham, and Thameslink Services terminating at Rainham. Platform 3 is also the first alternate preference if necessary. During most hours Platform 3 is used for terminating and returning trains to London Cannon Street via Woolwich Arsnl and Lewisham. Platforms 1, 2 and 3 are used for terminating and returning trains to London Charing Cross via Bexleyheath or Sidcup, and the aforementioned services returning from Rainham and Gravesend to destinations such as Kentish Town, Bedford, Luton, Charing Cross and London Victoria.
| Preceding station | National Rail | Following station |
| Crayford | Southeastern Dartford Loop Line | Stone Crossing or Terminus |
| Slade Green | ThameslinkNorth Kent Line | Stone Crossing |
| Slade Green | SoutheasternNorth Kent Line | Greenhithe |
| Barnehurst | SoutheasternBexleyheath line | Terminus |

## Connections

London Buses routes 96, 428 and 492, Arriva Kent Thameside routes 414, 477 and 480, Fastrack routes A, AZ and B and Go-Coach routes 429, D1 and D2 serve the station.

## Concessionary and electronic ticketing
### Oyster and contactless bank cards

Dartford entered the TfL zonal Oyster/contactless system on Sunday 6 September 2015, in Zone 8. Whilst season tickets, daily capping and contactless weekly capping are set at standard Zone 8 levels, single fares from Dartford are lower than "standard" Zone 8 fares.
This followed Southeastern agreement to seek to bring Oyster/Contactless PAYG to Dartford by 31 January 2016 as part of the 2014–2018 franchise extension.

## Passenger representation

Dartford Rail Travellers' Association campaigns for improvements across the seven railway stations in the Dartford area – Dartford, Stone Crossing, Greenhithe for Bluewater, Swanscombe, Ebbsfleet International, Longfield and Farningham Road. The group operates through social media on Facebook and Twitter.