Dover Priory Station c.1876.
The overall roof of the original station can be
seen at the extreme left of the picture. Next to
this are the carriage shed and engine shed.
The Priory Station was opened on 22
July 1861 by the London
Chatham and Dover Railway as the temporary terminus
of their line from London. On 1 November 1861 it became
a through station when the tunnel connecting it with
the Harbour Station
opened. Originally called Dover Town it was renamed
Dover Priory in July 1863, taking its name from the
nearby remains of St
Martin’s Priory. The name Dover
Town was then taken by the South
Eastern Railway for their original terminus.
As built, Dover Priory had an overall
roof covering the platforms and was provided with goods,
carriage and engine sheds. Passenger services for the
town were consolidated at the Priory Station in 1927
when the old Harbour Station
was closed (the Town Station
had closed to civilian traffic in October 1914). The
engine shed was closed in 1928 when a new shed near
the old Town Station was opened. In 1932 the station
was rebuilt in the modern style of the Southern
Railway.
During the Second
World War the station saw much traffic including
the evacuation
of the children of Dover in June 1940. It had the
dubious honour of being the victim of the first shell
to hit the town, which destroyed the passenger footbridge
on 11 September 1940.
Since the war the station has seen
a large increase in cross-Channel passenger traffic
as the Eastern Docks hasdeveloped. With no rail connection
to the Eastern Docks, shuttle buses to there, and the
Hoverport, provide a connection for rail passengers.
In 1994 the Priory Station became Dover’s only railway
station when the Marine
Station closed.
In July 2006 it was announced that
after several years of campaigning Dover will have Channel
Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL) services into London. The Department
for Transport said hourly high-speed services would
run between Dover Priory and London St Pancras from
December 2009. Journeys from the Kent coast into the
capital will take just over an hour.
Twenty-nine Hitachi class 395 trains,
with a top speed of 140mph (225km/h), will operate on
the CTRL. Network Rail will undertake improvements to
the Shakespeare Tunnel near Dover to make it safe for
the Hitachi trains to use.
In August 2006 major renovations started
at the station. These include the refurbishment of the
station building, booking hall and toilet facilities,
and planned improvements to the external circulation
for vehicles. There are also works to improve port interchange
facilities, signs for pedestrians and CCTV coverage
in the waiting areas.
The scheme is part of the HST (High
Speed Trains) Connect project, funded by Interreg European
funding and overseen by the South East England Development
Agency (SEEDA). Dover Priory is one of three stations
in the UK to benefit from this project.
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