Gillingham railway station (Kent)

Gillingham railway station is on the Chatham Main Line in England, serving the town of Gillingham, Kent. It is 35 miles 75 chains (57.8 km) down the line from London Victoria and is situated between Chatham and Rainham.

Gillingham
The station entrance in 2018
General information
Location	Gillingham, Borough of Medway England
Coordinates	51.386569°N 0.549886°E / 51.386569; 0.549886
Grid reference	TQ775683
Managed by	Southeastern
Platforms	3
Other information
Station code	GLM
Classification	DfT category C1
Key dates
July 1858[1]	Opened as New Brompton
May 1886	Renamed New Brompton (Gillingham)
1 Oct 1912	Renamed Gillingham
Passengers
2019/20	2.515 million
Interchange	0.161 million
2020/21	0.940 million
Interchange	45,372
2021/22	1.861 million
Interchange	0.107 million
2022/23	2.120 million
Interchange	0.602 million
2023/24	2.342 million
Interchange	0.114 million
Notes Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

The station and most trains that call are operated by Southeastern. Following a timetable change on 20 May 2018, some trains are also operated by Govia Thameslink. It is commonly suffixed as Gillingham (Kent) to distinguish it from the similarly named station in Dorset.

The station first opened in 1858. It currently has three platforms (two for London-bound services and one for country-bound services) and a passenger lift from the station entrance to the platforms.

The station underwent an extensive facelift between 2010 and 2012. This included a new entrance, better pavements, new roof, refurbished waiting rooms, and new cycle storage units.^[2]

The original station entrance in 1995

Looking coastbound. The building on the left is a train crew depot.

v t e Medway Towns
Legend
North Kent Line & HS1 to London Bridge & St Pancras Chatham Main Line to Victoria & Blackfriars Medway Valley Line to Maidstone West Halling Cuxton Strood Rochester Bridge | Strood (1st) Rochester Bridge Goods station Rochester Common Rochester (2015–) Rochester (1892–2015) Chatham Central River Medway Chatham Gillingham Rainham Chatham Main Line to Faversham, Dover & Ramsgate

Services

Services at Gillingham are operated by Southeastern and Thameslink using Class 375, 395, 465, 466 and 700 EMUs.

The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is:^[3]

• 2 tph to London St Pancras International
• 3 tph to London Victoria (2 of these run non-stop from Bromley South and 1 runs via Denmark Hill)
• 2 tph to Luton via Dartford and Greenwich
• 2 tph to Rainham
• 1 tph to Faversham
• 1 tph to Dover Priory via Canterbury East
• 2 tph to Ramsgate

Additional services, including trains to and from London Charing Cross via Sidcup, and fast trains to and from London Cannon Street call at the station during the peak hours.

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Chatham		Southeastern Chatham Main Line		Rainham or Terminus
		Southeastern High Speed 1		Rainham
		Thameslink North Kent Line
		Southeastern North Kent Line Peak Hours Only		Terminus

References

1. 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.
2. "Station revamp ahead of 2012 London Olympics". Archived from the original on 2 April 2012. Retrieved 11 August 2011.
3. Table 194, 200, 201, 212 National Rail timetable, December 2023

External links

• Southeastern Railway - Gillingham (Kent) Station

• Train times and station information for Gillingham railway station (Kent) from National Rail