Dymchurch | |
|---|---|
Dymchurch railway station looking from the footbridge towards St Marys Bay
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| General information | |
| Location | Shepway |
| Managed by | RHDR |
| Platforms | 2 |
| Key dates | |
| July 1927 | Opened |
Dymchurch railway station is on the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch RailwayinKent, England. It is five miles (eight km) south of Hythe, and surrounded by flat countryside.
The station opened in July 1927 as Dymchurch (Marshlands), to distinguish it from a nearby station called Burmarsh for East Dymchurch and later as Dymchurch Bay.
The station has two platforms connected by a footbridge. On the 'up' platform there is a shelter and a station master's house. On the 'down' platform is a station building incorporating a booking office and staff room, a shop selling souvenirs and refreshments, and a wolmen's toilet. The men's toilets are in the supporting pillars of the footbridge, although only that on the 'down' platform is in use.
There are four signals on the Dymchurch control panel - an up home, an up starter, a down home, and a down starter. All are colour-light signals, but they are a mixture of two-aspect and three-aspect. All four signals are linked to the lights at the level crossings located one on each side of the station. The signals are controlled from a panel in the booking office.
Originally larger, the 1920s station had three platforms (two through platforms and a bay platform), a signal box, a turntable, and a mainline crossover to allow shuttle trains from New Romney. These never happened, and the turntable was removed in the 1930s. A second crossover was installed before the war and shuttles worked between Dymchurch and Hythe via Burmarsh Road. The signalbox was removed in the 1960s, and the remaining four switches bolted in the normal position, primitive colour-light signals being worked by switches from the booking office for normal block operations.
Today just one siding remains, plus one mainline crossover. This is the only place where a train can pass between the up and down lines in the eight miles between Hythe and New Romney - it is also the only location where a works train can be parked off the main line. The three points required (two crossover, one siding) have been operated from a ground frame since the station was resignalled with the installation of level crossing lights in 1976.
The station is a tourist destination, largely for the sandy beaches nearby, the holiday arcades and an amusement park. It is has three staff during the summer (one only, out of season). It is a 'block station' for train control purposes.
| Preceding station |  Heritage railways
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Following station | ||
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| Burmarsh Road | RHDR | St Mary's Bay | ||
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Stations of the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway
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| Open stations |
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| Closed stations |
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| Proposed stations |
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