Opened in 1861 by the London Chatham and Dover railway, Bekesbourne is to be found on the Dover branch of the Chatham mainline. The station building was located on the London bound platform, and was similar to that at Shepherds Well.
It had a goods shed located on the same side, albeit smaller than other locations along the line having only two lines. A footbridge was installed in 1911, and was the last notable addition to be seen here.
The goods yard was removed in 1961, and the small signal box suffered the same fate in 1964. Eventually all the buildings were demolished in 1970, the shelters being replaced with rectanguar ‘bus shelter’ types.
Currently the station is served by class 375 Electric Multiple Units. These serve the station with 2 trains per hour each way on the weekday peak, reducing to 1 train per hour off peak and at weekends.
Bekesbourne may have had its charm removed, indeed it is quite a bleak station, but for the enthusiast good views can be had down the line. It is however a mainly passenger service line, freight locomotives being only used during any engineering work.
If you wish to see more of Bekesbourne, my Vlog is below. This is part of a series documenting the top ten least used stations in Kent.
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Rainham Rail Enthusiast 