Ramsgate railway station

Ramsgate railway station serves the town of Ramsgate in Thanet in Kent, England. The station lies on the Chatham Main Line, 79 miles 21 chains (127.6 km) down the line from London Victoria, the Kent Coast Line, and the Ashford to Ramsgate (via Canterbury West) line. The station is managed by Southeastern, which (including Southeastern High Speed) operates all trains serving it.

Ramsgate
General information
Location	Ramsgate, District of Thanet England
Grid reference	TR371657
Managed by	Southeastern
Platforms	4
Other information
Station code	RAM
Classification	DfT category D
History
Opened	2 July 1926
Passengers
2019/20	1.330 million
Interchange	77,482
2020/21	0.417 million
Interchange	22,090
2021/22	1.007 million
Interchange	60,432
2022/23	1.152 million
Interchange	0.134 million
2023/24	1.289 million
Interchange	0.153 million
Listed Building – Grade II
Feature	Ramsgate Station
Designated	4 February 1988 (amended 11 July 2000)
Reference no.	1086060
Notes Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Architecture

Ramsgate railway station is a 1920s brick-built station thought to have been designed by James Robb Scott and Edwin Maxwell Fry, and built between 1924 and 1926. Margate station and the demolished Dumpton Park station are of a similar design. The building is Grade II listed.

Services

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

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

• 3 tph to London St Pancras International (1 of these runs via Canterbury West, 1 runs via Dover Priory and 1 runs via Chatham)
• 1 tph to London Charing Cross via Canterbury West and Tonbridge
• 1 tph to London Victoria via Chatham
• 1 tph to Margate

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

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Dumpton Park		Southeastern Chatham Main Line - Ramsgate Branch		Terminus
Sandwich		Southeastern Kent Coast Line
Thanet Parkway		Southeastern Ashford to Ramsgate Line
		Southeastern High Speed 1		Broadstairs

History

Ramsgate and Margate
Margate Sands Margate West Chatham Main Line to London Victoria Line closed north and south of Margate Sands Goods in 1926. Margate Sands Goods Margate East Tivoli Broadstairs To Ashford and Dover Dumpton Park St Lawrence for Pegwell Bay Ramsgate Ramsgate Town Ramsgate Harbour
The arrangement inherited by the Southern Railway in 1923 with the lines and stations closed in 1926 shown in pink (Tivoli had closed c.1867 and St Lawrence for Pegwell Bay had closed in 1916). The dotted line represent the new surface lines and stations. Ramsgate and Dumpton Park both opened in 1926. Margate Sands Goods closed in 1972. The diagram shows the position as of 1926.

Trains first reached Ramsgate in April 1846 when the South Eastern Railway (SER) opened a line from Canterbury. It terminated at Ramsgate SER, later to be called Ramsgate Town, which, unlike the present-day station, was in the town centre. Later the same year the line opened across Thanet to Margate, to Margate SER (later Margate Sands). Trains from Canterbury to Margate had to reverse at Ramsgate Town; a chord was built bypassing the station, but not often used. St Lawrence station was opened in 1864 just before this chord, but closed in 1916.

The London Chatham & Dover Railway (LCDR) reached Margate from Herne Bay in 1863. This called at Margate LC&DR (later Margate West), East Margate (later Margate East), Broadstairs, and via a 1630 yd tunnel terminated at Ramsgate LC&DR (later Ramsgate Harbour), near the harbour and beach.

This arrangement was inherited by Southern Railway on grouping in 1923. In 1926 a new line was opened connecting the SER line from east of Ramsgate Town to the LCDR line just south of Broadstairs. The current Ramsgate station and a new station at Dumpton Park were built on this new line. The Ramsgate Harbour station, line through the tunnel, and the Ramsgate Town station and old SER line across to Margate Sands were all closed in July 1926. This change made for operational convenience, but has the disadvantage that the town centre is no longer served.

Motive power depot

See also: Ramsgate EMU Depot

The SER opened a motive power depot near Ramsgate Station in April 1846. This was closed by the Southern Railway in 1926 and replaced by a larger facility in 1930. This closed to steam locomotives in 1959 and was converted for use servicing electric multiple units introduced by the Southern Region following the British Railways Kent Coast Electrification.

The depot (51.3421°N 1.4018°E / 51.3421; 1.4018 (Ramsgate depot)) was modernised in 2007 and opened in late 2008.

Connections

The station is situated in the northern Ramsgate parish of St Lawrence, a 10-minute walk away from Ramsgate town centre. The "Loop" bus service operated by Stagecoach South East connects the station with Ramsgate town centre and nearby Thanet settlements, including those not served by rail such as Westwood.

External links

• Train times and station information for Ramsgate railway station from National Rail
• Glasspool, David. Ramsgate – history of Ramsgate station and railway
• Glasspool, David. Ramsgate MPD – history of Ramsgate rolling stock depot
• Glasspool, David. Ramsgate Maintenance Depot – post 2007 depot description