page_title: Canterbury and Whitstable Railway
section_title: South Eastern Railway
hierarchical_section_title: Canterbury and Whitstable Railway / South Eastern Railway
caption_attribution_description: English: Site of Blean &amp; Tyler Hill Halt. View NNW, towards Whitstable Harbour; ex-SE&amp;C Canterbury West - Whitstable Harbour branch. Passenger service ceased and Halt closed 1/1/31, line closed completely 1/3/53.
context_page_description: The Canterbury and Whitstable Railway, sometimes referred to colloquially as the "Crab and Winkle Line", was an early British railway that opened in 1830 between Canterbury and Whitstable in the county of Kent, England.
context_section_description: The line was bedevilled by financial problems and was facing bankruptcy when the South Eastern Railway, which had received the Royal Assent in 1844, agreed to take it over, operating it in isolation from their own line. Invicta by now was virtually useless and horse traction was being used.
  When the South Eastern Railway's own network eventually reached Canterbury in 1846, it decided to convert the line for use with its own locomotives throughout, after upgrading the track using standard rails of 70 pounds per yard (35 kg/m).  Under George Stephenson's influence, the track had been built to standard gauge, but the loading gauge was small, the height of Tyler Hill Tunnel being only twelve feet (3.66 m) and the South Eastern locomotives were modified with shorter chimneys and lowered boilers. Tayleur's 119 Class 0-6-0 locomotives were used. Passenger services in 1846 were six trains daily, with five on Sundays. Canterbury North Lane station closed to passengers in 1846 and Canterbury West subsequently served the line. 
  The line was never prosperous, even under South Eastern management, and there was a new setback when the London, Chatham and Dover Railway opened in 1860 offering a better passenger service from Whitstable to London. Sunday trains were withdrawn in 1860.The platform at Whitstable Harbour station was extended in the mid-1870s to take three carriages. In 1883, two Stirling O Class 0-6-0 locomotives received cut down cabs to enable them to work the line. These were replaced by four Stirling R Class 0-6-0T locomotives in 1891, which worked the line until closure. Canterbury North Lane closed to freight in 1891. A new station opened at Whitstable Harbour on 3 June 1895. It was located south of Harbour Street thus enabling uninterrupted shunting in the harbour area. In 1898, Sunday trains were reinstated, running during summer only. 
  In 1902, work started on building a spur line at Whitstable to connect with the Herne Bay to Faversham line and a bay platform at Whitstable Town station, but the work was stopped when the Board of Trade demanded major improvements to the C&W before they would approve the new connection.  In 1906, eleven trains a day were run. A halt was opened at Blean and Tyler Hill on 1 January 1908, appearing in timetables from 13 June. South Street Halt opened on 1 July 1911, and Tankerton Halt opened on 1 July 1914. The latter was adjacent to Whitstable Town station and was linked by a footpath. The service in 1914 was eleven trains a day. During the 1920s, the service was eight or nine trains a day. In 1930, there were six trains daily, with ten on Sundays. 
  In 1923, the line became part of the Southern Railway and like many other lines around the country it suffered from competition from bus services. Passenger services were withdrawn after 1 January 1931, due to falling numbers of passengers - from 51,00 in 1925 to 31,000 in 1927 and 23,000 in 1929. There were up to four freight trains daily at this time.  The signal box at Whitstable closed on 11 February 1931 and the branch was worked as a siding from then on.  It continued to carry coal, grain and roadstone, with munitions to the harbour during World War II. By 1948, when it became part of British Railways, Whitstable Harbour had fallen into disuse and what was left of the line's trade had disappeared.
caption: Site of Blean & Tyler Hill Halt in 1963
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