page_title: Hundred of Hoo Railway
section_title: The line today
hierarchical_section_title: Hundred of Hoo Railway / The line today
caption_attribution_description: English: Gravel Containers on Sidings Linked to the Mineral Railway from Hoo junction to Grain. Owned by Brett Industries. Seen from level crossing on access road to Works from Salt Lane.
context_page_description: The Hundred of Hoo Railway is a railway line in Kent, England, following the North Kent Line from Gravesend before diverging at Hoo Junction near Shorne Marshes and continuing in an easterly direction across the Hoo Peninsula, passing near the villages of Cooling, High Halstow, Cliffe and Stoke before reaching the Isle of Grain and the container port on its eastern tip, Thamesport. There used to be a short branch line leading from Stoke Junction to the coastal town of Allhallows but this closed from 4 December 1961, the same date on which the Hundred of Hoo line was closed to passenger services.
context_section_description: Although the Berry Wiggins refinery and APCM cement works closed in 1972 and the BP refinery in 1997, Grain remains an active railway terminal as the forwarding point for granite shipped from Scotland.
  The line is freight-only and services run from Monday to Friday, with occasional weekend enthusiasts excursions or Serco test trains. Approximately one train per hour runs on weekdays throughout the line. Currently the line sees use from:
  (i) EWS and GB rail freight ballast from Foster Yeoman's aggregate terminal at Grain where an 08 shunter can usually be found,
  (ii) Freightliner services to and from Thamesport
  Class 66s are predominantly to be seen on the line, with occasional sightings of 59s and 60s.
  One of the proposals for a Thames Estuary Airport is in the Isle of Grain area and the railway, given its gentle curvatures, could possibly be upgraded to support high-speed railway traffic, though this would probably involve electrification and double-tracking.
  In January 2019, Campaign for Better Transport identified the line was listed as Priority 2 for reopening, as it may support housing development sites in the Medway Council Local Plan. Priority 2 is for those lines which require further development or a change in circumstances (such as housing developments).
caption: Brett Gravel works containers
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