Sandwich railway station serves Sandwich in Kent, England. The station, and all trains serving it, are operated by Southeastern. The station is 8+1⁄4 miles (13.3 km) south of Ramsgate on the Kent Coast Line.

Sandwich
General information
Location	Sandwich, Dover England
Grid reference	TR332576
Managed by	Southeastern
Platforms	2
Other information
Station code	SDW
Classification	DfT category E
History
Opened	1 July 1847[1]
Passengers
2016/17	0.315 million
2017/18	0.349 million
2018/19	0.355 million
2019/20	0.351 million
2020/21	0.106 million
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

History

The first proposal for a station at Sandwich was in 1836–37 by the Kent Railway.[2] An independent line to London was considered, but the South Eastern Railway (SER) decided they would construct a branch line from the Ashford to Ramsgate line at Minster towards Sandwich and Deal.[3] The station was opened on 1 July 1847.[1]

Sandwich had once been a significant port in the Middle Ages, but because of changing geography had suffered a lengthy decline. It was hoped a railway would reverse this trend. In 1853, the Sandwich Improvement Association hoped to collaborate with the SER and develop a more significant seaport here, but the SER were not interested. The station initially had a very limited service, with only seven trains running each way, and between 1855 and 1865 the line was single track.[4] A connection to Dover Priory opened on 15 June 1881.[5]

Goods services were withdrawn on 7 October 1963.[1]

In 2019, a major programme began to expand the station in preparation for The Open Championship at the Royal St George's Golf Club. The platforms were extended to 80 metres (260 ft) so they could accommodate the full 12-car British Rail Class 395 trains.[6][7][8] The work was completed in early 2021, in time for the 2021 Open Championship[9]

Services

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

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

• 1 tph to London St Pancras International
• 1 tph to Ramsgate

During the peak hours, the station is also served by a number of services between Ramsgate and London Charing Cross via Tonbridge.

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Deal		Southeastern Kent Coast Line		Ramsgate
				Minster Limited Service
	Disused railways
Deal		Southern Railway Kent Coast Line		Richborough Castle Halt Line open, station closed

References

Citations

Sources

External links

• Train times and station information for Sandwich railway station from National Rail

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sandwich railway station.