Staplehurst railway station

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Staplehurst

Location

Place

Staplehurst

Local authority

Maidstone

Operations

Station code

SPU

Managed by

Southeastern

Platforms in use

Live departures and station information from National Rail

Annual Rail Passenger Usage

2004/05 *

0.814 million

2005/06 *

0.840 million

History

Key dates

Opened 31 August 1842

National Rail - UK railway stations

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

* Annual passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Staplehurst from Office of Rail Regulation statistics.

UK Railways Portal

Staplehurst railway station serves Staplehurst in Kent, England. The station, and all trains serving it, is operated by Southeastern. Staplehurst is 67 kilometres (42 mi) south east of London Charing Cross on the South Eastern Main Line.

[edit] Staplehurst Rail Crash

Main article: Staplehurst rail crash

The stretch of line near the station which crosses the River Beult (pronounced "Belt") was the site of a fatal train accident on 9 June 1865. This accident is well-known in literary circles as Charles Dickens was on the stricken train and survived. He later wrote a short story, "The Signal-Man", which was said to be inspired by this accident even though it was actually based on the earlier Clayton Tunnel rail crash of 1861. The accident left Dickens very anxious about rail travel.