Sittingbourne railway station

Sittingbourne railway station is on the Chatham Main Line and the Sheerness Line in north Kent. It is 44 miles 59 chains (72.0 km) down the line from London Victoria. Train services are provided by Southeastern. Ticket barriers are sometimes in operation, depending on the time of day.

Map of the Sittingbourne Railway Station in relation to other local stations and the Sittingbourne & Kemsley Light Railway. The Chatham Main Line runs along the bottom, east to west, while the Sheerness Line branches off northwards, west of Sittingbourne.

Sittingbourne
Eastbound view of the station from platform 1
General information
Location	Sittingbourne, Swale England
Grid reference	TQ905638
Managed by	Southeastern
Platforms	3
Other information
Station code	SIT
Classification	DfT category C2
Key dates
25 January 1858	Opened
Passengers
2019/20	2.253 million
Interchange	0.433 million
2020/21	0.750 million
Interchange	0.117 million
2021/22	1.659 million
Interchange	0.317 million
2022/23	1.876 million
Interchange	0.317 million
2023/24	2.084 million
Interchange	0.367 million
Notes Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Facilities

Two new lifts linked by a new footbridge have created a step-free route between the station entrance and platforms to provide better access to train services. The improvements have been funded through the government’s Access for All programme and cost around £1,800,000.^[1]

The work has also included a series of enhancements to station facilities funded through the National Stations Improvement Programme and include relocating and increasing the number of cycle parking spaces outside the station; renovating all passenger toilets; creating new waiting shelters on the platforms and a new waiting room on platform; repositioning the ticket gates to create more space for passengers in the ticket office; and installing a new customer information screen and non-slip flooring in the ticket office.

The Sittingbourne & Kemsley Light Railway's station, at Sittingbourne Viaduct, is a short walk away.

Accidents and incidents

• In January 1861, a passenger train was derailed. One passenger was killed.^[2]
• On 31 August 1878, a passenger train collided with some goods wagons. Five people were killed.^[2]
• On 27 July 1966, a freight train was derailed at Sittingbourne West Junction. The line was blocked for two days.^[3]

Services

All services at Sittingbourne are operated by Southeastern using Class 375 and 395 EMUs.

The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is:^[4]

• 2 tph to London St Pancras International
• 2 tph to London Victoria
• 1 tph to Faversham
• 1 tph to Dover Priory via Canterbury East
• 2 tph to Ramsgate
• 1 tph to Sheerness-on-Sea

Additional services including trains to and from London Bridge and London Cannon Street call at the station in the peak hours.

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Newington or Rainham		Southeastern Chatham Main Line		Teynham or Faversham
Rainham		Southeastern High Speed 1		Faversham
Kemsley		Southeastern Sheerness Line		Terminus