In the early 1860’s the
South
Eastern Railway and the
London
Chatham and Dover Railway had started running trains
onto the
Admiralty Pier
to connect with their
cross-Channel
steamers. There was little protection on the narrow
platform and in stormy weather
passengers
and trains alike got soaked by waves breaking over
the pier. What was needed was a purpose build station,
with a roof!
In 1909 work started on reclaiming the land on which
to build the Marine Station. The
Admiralty
Pier was built in a curve and a wall was constructed
a short distance from the pier, straight across the
curve to the original, pre-extension pier head. The
area between the wall and the pier was reclaimed using
chalk quarried from the
cliffs.
The magnificent Marine Station had just been completed
in 1914 when the First World War broke out, so its first
passengers were troops on their way to Flanders and
the sick and wounded returning from the front. In recognition
of the part it played in war transport, the war memorial
of the
South Eastern
& Chatham Railway was placed there rather than at
one of the large London termini.
The Marine Station opened to civilian Continental traffic
in January 1920 with a full passenger service by February
1922. As well as the constant stream of ordinary boat
trains carrying passengers to and from the continent,
the station also saw special services such as the luxury
Pullman train
“Golden Arrow”.
Also before the advent of safe, reliable air travel,
Dover was the port of entry for most VIPs from the continent,
with the Marine Station welcoming European royalty and
heads of state.
The Station played its part in
World
War 2 handling the hundreds of special trains for
the
Dunkirk
evacuation and suffering much bomb and shell damage.
After the war passenger services returned but as the
car ferry services increased the number rail passengers
crossing the channel fell.
In 1994 the Marine Station closed to rail traffic and
in 1996, after a major refurbishment, re-opened as Dover’s
new
Cruise Liner Terminal.
