Bat & Ball railway station

Bat & Ball railway station is on Bat & Ball Road in the suburban town of Sevenoaks in Kent, England. The station is managed by Southeastern although all trains that serve the station are Thameslink. It is 25 miles 51 chains (41.3 km) from London Victoria, although all northbound trains run to London Blackfriars.

Bat & Ball
General information
Location	Sevenoaks, District of Sevenoaks England
Coordinates	51.290°N 0.194°E / 51.290; 0.194
Grid reference	TQ530568
Managed by	Southeastern
Platforms	2
Other information
Station code	BBL
Classification	DfT category F2
History
Original company	Sevenoaks, Maidstone and Tonbridge Railway
Pre-grouping	SE&CRCJMC
Post-grouping	Southern Railway
Key dates
2 June 1862	Opened as Sevenoaks[1]
1 August 1869	Renamed Sevenoaks Bat & Ball[1]
1 January 1917	Closed[1]
1 March 1919	Reopened[1]
5 June 1950	Renamed Bat & Ball[2]
Passengers
2018/19	0.131 million
2019/20	0.147 million
2020/21	51,838
2021/22	0.134 million
2022/23	0.171 million
Notes Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

History

The station opened in 1862 with the name "Sevenoaks".^[1] It was then, some years later, named "Sevenoaks Bat & Ball" then renamed in 1950 to its current name.^[2] The name derives from the Bat & Ball Inn, a pub which no longer exists.

A long lease of the building was granted to Sevenoaks Town Council in 2017 for refurbishment supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund.^[3] Works began March 2018 – for a building re-opening in January 2019.^[4] It is a listed building in the initial, mainstream category, Grade II (two).^[3][5]

The station in 1962

Facilities

The station is near the hospital, in the ecclesiastical parish of St John's Hill^[6] and in the broader town council's civil parish.^[7] It is on a south coastbound route from London via Swanley and via Otford. The northbound platform has a bench under a shelter and in 2014 new benches and service tannoy have graced the other platform. The staffed office, after fading, ceased on 30 November 1991. Southeastern has fitted an electronic screen showing departures.

The station has a car park. Once free, in 2010 a fee of £3 per day to park began. This resulted in the displacement of parking by commuters into surrounding residential streets, particularly Chatham Hill Road. Per the local press, parking problems for local residents were common, whilst leaving the station's car park almost deserted.^[8]

A PERTIS "permit to travel" machine was at the entrance to the southbound platform, later replaced by a card payment-only ticket machine in 2016. Before de-staffing in 1991, it had converted from the previous NCR21 card ticket system to APTIS on 12 April 1988. A rare misprint on some tickets issued just after conversion to APTIS rendered the station BAT BALL.

As part of the refurbishment project undertaken by Sevenoaks Town Council the station building will house a public cafe, public toilets, and community meeting rooms, due to open January 2019.^[9]

Services

All services at Bat & Ball are operated by Thameslink using Class 700 EMUs.

The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is:^[10]

• 2 tph to London Blackfriars via Catford
• 2 tph to Sevenoaks

During the peak hours, the service to London Blackfriars is extended to and from Welwyn Garden City via Finsbury Park.

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Otford		Thameslink Darent Valley Line		Sevenoaks
	Disused railways
Terminus		London, Chatham and Dover Railway Maidstone Line		Otford Junction
				Kemsing

References

References

1. Butt (1995), page 208
2. Butt (1995), page 29
3. "Station (Timeline) - Bat & Ball Station". www.batandballstation.com. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
4. King, Debbie (27 March 2018). "Work starts on £1.3 million station make-over". kentlive. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
5. Historic England. "Bat & Ball Railway Station (1085975)". National Heritage List for England.
6. Church of England Ecclesiastical Parish name and its extent.
7. Sevenoaks Town Council Map showing parish (town council) boundary
8. "Residents' fury as commuters' cars clog roads". Kent and Sussex Courier. Local World Limited. 12 November 2010. Archived from the original on 22 December 2014. Retrieved 22 December 2014.
9. "HLF Restoration Project - Bat & Ball Station". www.batandballstation.com. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
10. Table 195, 196 National Rail timetable, May 2022

Sources

• Butt, R. V. J. (October 1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199. OL 11956311M.
• Jowett, Alan (March 1989). Jowett's Railway Atlas of Great Britain and Ireland: From Pre-Grouping to the Present Day (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-086-0. OCLC 22311137.
• Jowett, Alan (2000). Jowett's Nationalised Railway Atlas (1st ed.). Penryn, Cornwall: Atlantic Transport Publishers. ISBN 978-0-906899-99-1. OCLC 228266687.

External links

• Train times and station information for Bat & Ball railway station from National Rail