page_title: Maidstone
section_title: Railways
hierarchical_section_title: Maidstone / Transport / Railways
caption_attribution_description: The River Medway flows through Maidstone in Kent. Fairmeadow and river looking downstream towards Maidstone East Station. Camera location51°&#160;16′&#160;34.32″&#160;N, 0°&#160;31′&#160;05.52″&#160;E&#160;View this and other nearby images on: OpenStreetMap - Google Earth
context_page_description: Maidstone is a town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies 32 miles east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town, linking it with Rochester and the Thames Estuary. Historically, the river carried much of the town's trade as the centre of the agricultural county of Kent, known as the Garden of England. There is evidence of settlement in the area dating back before the Stone Age. The town, part of the borough of Maidstone, had a population of 113,137 in 2011. There has been a shift in the town's economy since the Second World War away from heavy industry towards light industry and services.
context_section_description: When the railways were built in the 1840s, Maidstone was not well served. It was reported at the time that inhabitants were bitterly opposed to the railway, the mayor suggesting that "Maidstone will be ruined as a commercial town". It was said that wharfingers and corn and coal merchants would be hardest hit.
  In 1842, the South Eastern Railway, to reach the Channel ports of Folkestone and Dover, put its main line through Tonbridge and Ashford, some 6 miles (9.7 km) to the south. A station named Maidstone Road was built in an isolated spot called Paddock Wood, from where coaches were run to the county town.
  Two years later, a branch line was built to Maidstone. In 1846, the Medway Valley Line connected Strood with the town. It was not until 1874 that the line from London arrived and another ten years before Ashford was connected by rail. There are three stations: Maidstone West and Maidstone Barracks on the Medway Valley Line (whose platforms are visible one from the other); and Maidstone East on the Ashford line.
  In 1905, the Headcorn & Maidstone Junction Light Railway was authorised under the 1896 Light Railways Act to link Maidstone with Sutton Valence and Headcorn, linking with the Kent & East Sussex Railway. The only part built was a short branch serving the paper mills at Tovil.
caption: The 1874 Maidstone East line crossing the River Medway; also on the bridge is a footpath connecting Maidstone East with Maidstone Barracks.
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