Medway Valley Line

Medway Valley Line

Stations (from north to south) For North Kent Line Strood Rochester Bridge Junction to Chatham Main Line Cuxton Halling Snodland New Hythe Aylesford Maidstone Barracks Maidstone West East Farleigh Wateringbury Yalding Beltring Joins the London to Ashford to Dover Line Paddock Wood Tonbridge For Hastings Line and Redhill to Tonbridge Line

The Medway Valley Line is the name given to the railway line linking Strood and the Medway Towns with Maidstone West and onward to Paddock Wood and Tonbridge. Trains run half-hourly between Strood and Maidstone, and a few times a day through to Tonbridge. There is an early morning service to Redhill for connections to Gatwick Airport and an early morning weekday service that runs via Tonbridge and Redhill to London Bridge.

The line is two track and was electrified (at 750 V DC third rail) by Southern Railway in July 1939 to Maidstone West. The rest of the line was electrified under stage 2 of Kent Coast electrification by BR's 1955 Modernisation plan.

During 2005, the signalling systems were upgraded, replacing the traditional semaphore signals with colour light signals.

Paddock Wood station is the venue of the Hop Farm, a popular country show venue and tourist attraction.

Services are operated by Southeastern, primarily using Class 508 EMUs although Class 466 units are increasingly being used.

The section from Maidstone West to Paddock Wood passes through some of Kent's most picturesque countryside along the narrower sections of the River Medway.

External links

• Map of the line

Railway lines in South-East England:
Main lines:		Arun Valley Line   Ashford via Maidstone East Line   Ashford-Ramsgate via Canterbury Line   Brighton Main Line   Chatham Main Line   East Coastway   Hastings Line   Channel Tunnel Rail Link   Kent Coast Line   London–Ashford–Dover Line   North Downs Line   Portsmouth Direct Line   South Western Main Line   Thameslink   West Coastway   West of England Main Line
Commuter lines:		Alton Line   Ascot-Guildford Line   Bexleyheath Line   Caterham Line   Catford Loop   Chessington Branch   Dartford Loop   Eastleigh-Fareham Line   Eastleigh-Romsey Line   Greenwich Line   Hayes Line   Hounslow Loop   Mid-Kent Line   New Guildford Line   North Kent Line   Oxted Line   Sheerness Line   Slough-Windsor & Eton Line   South London Line   Staines-Windsor & Eton Line   Staines to Weybridge Line   Sutton Mole Valley Line   Tattenham Corner Line   Waterloo-Reading Line   West London Line
Rural lines:		Brockenhurst-Lymington Line   Henley Branch Line   Island Line   Marlow Branch Line   Marshlink Line   Medway Valley Line   Redhill-Tonbridge Line