Chatham Main Line - Services

Services

Most services on the Line are run by Southeastern, part of Govia Group, which also operate the Southern and the London Midland franchises.

While traveling towards London Victoria, after Bromley South, the trains can either travel on the main line, through Beckenham Junction, Herne Hill and Brixton, or can divert via the Catford Loop Line, coming away from the main line at Shortlands Junction, travelling through Catford and Peckham Rye, and then just past Brixton it either picks up the Southeastern line all the way, or can follow the Southern (Atlantic) Line through Clapham High Street and Wandsworth Road Stations, before crossing back over to the Southeastern Line to Victoria Station.

Since a major timetable change in December 2009, the typical Off-Peak services on this line are as follows.

A half hourly service currently consist of either stopping or semi-fast trains, one traveling from Ramsgate and the other from Dover Priory where the two of the trains would then normally join together at Faversham. They will then stop at either Teynham or Newington on an alternating half hourly service, and will include Sittingbourne in between these stations. Then Rainham, Gillingham, Chatham, Rochester, Meopham, Longfield, and Bromley South then non-stop to London Victoria.

An hourly service starts from Gillingham (which used to be a half hourly service from Faversham), stopping all Chatham, Rochester, Sole Street, Meopham, Longfield, Farningham Road, Swanley, St Mary Cray, Bromley South and London Victoria only. Stations prior to Farningham Road (as coming from London Victoria) are served by stoppers on the Swanley to Ashford (via Maidstone East) Line.

The introduction of the Class 395 Javelins, coinciding with the opening of a link to High Speed 1 in December 2009 has seen the addition of a half hourly service departing from Faversham calling at Sittingbourne, Rainham, Gillingham, Chatham and Rochester. It then switches over to the North Kent Metro Line, calling at Strood and Gravesend, before then picking up a dedicated line to Ebbsfleet International, before dropping onto High Speed 1, where it calls at Stratford International, and St Pancras International. There is no First Class service on this train, and between Faversham and Gravesend, this is treated as a domestic service, which means you can travel with a standard (Non High Speed) ticket, but if you want to travel to any of the International Stations, you will have to pay a premium fare or purchase a supplemental ticket (Plus High Speed) either on the train heading towards St Pancras International, or from one of the High Speed Stations for the return leg of the journey. Most train tickets which are valid across different networks (Not just Southeastern) are usually exempt from this premium fare.

During the London 2012 Summer Olympics, the service was cut back to only one train per hour from Faversham to St Pancras International, due to additional Shuttle Trains running from St Pancras to Stratford International. All the London Termini were extremely busy during this time, with a queuing system in place at the very busiest stations.

There is a suburban (metro) service where the majority of this travels on a small part of this line. Departing from Victoria, it calls at Brixton, Herne Hill, West Dulwich, Sydenham Hill, Penge East, Kent House, Beckenham Junction (for the Croydon Tramlink), Shortlands, Bromley South, and Bickley. It then switches to the South Eastern Main Line at Chislehurst Junction where it calls at Petts Wood, terminating at Orpington. From here, you can pick up services towards Tonbridge and Ashford International.