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The East Kent Railway (EKR) was an early railway operating between Strood and the town of Faversham in Kent England, during 1858 and 1859. In the latter year it changed its name to the London, Chatham and Dover Railway to reflect its ambitions to build a rival line from London to Dover via Chatham and Canterbury. The line as far as Canterbury was opened in 1860 and the extension to Dover Priory railway station 22 July 1861. The route to Victoria station, London, via the Mid-Kent line and the West End of London and Crystal Palace Railway opened on 1 November 1861. ==Origins== Although it was a relatively prosperous and well-populated area, the north of the county of Kent was poorly served by railways during the 1840s. the South Eastern Railway (SER) had chosen a roundabout southerly route to Dover of , compared to 'as the crow flies', and had built branches to the main towns in the north of the county from this line. As a result, it was by the main SER route from London to Margate and Deal although only by road. The cathedral city of Rochester and the important dockyards of Chatham had no rail link nearer than Strood, on the opposite side of the River Medway. Furthermore, the towns of Faversham, Sittingbourne and the Isle of Sheppey had no railway communication at all. As the SER was then unwilling to undertake new capital projects a large meeting was held at Rochester on 29 January 1850 to discuss the need for a railway connecting Strood to Dover.〔Nock (1961), pp.45-6.〕 The idea of a new independent railway was adopted, but lack of financial support meant that it would be three years before any concrete scheme could be proposed. A plan for the construction of a new railway between the existing stations at Strood and Canterbury was introduced to Parliament in 1853. The scheme also included a branch from Faversham to Faversham Quay on a creek leading to The Swale and a link to the SER at Chilham, together with running powers over the SER North Kent line to . There are differing views as to the amount of opposition to the scheme put up by the SER. According to Bradley, the SER ‘exerted great pressure to get the East Kent’s Bill thrown out of Parliament on the grounds of non-compliance with Standing Orders, but a petition by over 9,000 inhabitants of the district persuaded the House of Commons to suspend their Standing Orders and allow the Company to deposit amended plans.〔Bradley (1979), p.3.〕 One reason for this special treatment was that the line was then 'deemed of great national importance for the defences of the kingdom,’ as it aided the rapid movement of troops and military equipment between the Royal Arsenal, Chatham Dockyard and Dover.〔London, Chatham, and Dover Railway (1867),p.4.〕 The new company did not however gain the running powers requested. Instead, the Act included a facilitations clause which required the SER to handle the EKR traffic ‘as expeditiously as its own between Strood and London Bridge.’〔Nock, (1961) p.46.〕 At the same time, in return for the minor re-routing of the proposed line at Strood, the EKR received a major concession from the SER in the form of an undertaking to Parliament that they would not oppose any future plan to extend the line to Dover. Permission to build this extension was granted in 1855, before construction work on the initial line had begun. The SER did not put up more opposition as many of the directors felt that the line would never be built due to lack of finance, others ‘waited in the background for the onset of bankruptcy, hoping to absorb the new line at a substantial discount.〔White (1961), p.40.〕 ==Construction of the line== The engineer for the new line was Thomas Russell Crampton who was one of the directors of the new company. The building of the line took an inordinately long time because of the parlous financial state of the EKR throughout is existence. Contracts were not awarded until 1856 and Contractors were often left unpaid. Thus it was not until January 1858 that the line from Chatham to Faversham was completed. The section from Strood, over the river Medway to Chatham was opened in March 1858. This included the Rochester railway bridge designed by Joseph Cubitt. The railway was built as a single track line (with provision for doubling) throughout its length and but had taken five years to raise the finance and build. The branch line to Faversham Creek opened 12 April 1860; the main line as far as Canterbury 9 July 1860, reaching Dover town 22 July 1861 and Dover Harbour 1 November 1861.〔Marshall (1968), p.326.〕 All of these lines were opened after the EKR had changed its name to the London Chatham and Dover Railway. In the event, the links to the SER at Canterbury and Chilham were never built. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「East Kent Railway」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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