View source for Queenborough railway station

{{Short description|Railway station in Kent, England}}{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2015}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2015}}
{{More citations needed|date=December 2009}}
{{Infobox station
| name                = Queenborough
| symbol_location     = gb
| symbol              = rail
| image               = Queenborough Railway Station.jpg
| borough             = [[Queenborough]], [[Borough of Swale|Swale]]
| country             = England
| grid_name           = [[Ordnance Survey National Grid|Grid reference]]
| grid_position       = {{gbmapscaled|TQ913721|25|TQ913721}}
| manager             = [[Southeastern (train operating company)|Southeastern]]
| platforms           = 2
| code                = QBR
| classification      = [[United Kingdom railway station categories|DfT category]] E
| original            = Sittingbourne and Sheerness Railway <br /> [[London, Chatham and Dover Railway]]
| pregroup            = [[South Eastern and Chatham Railway]]
| postgroup           = [[Southern Railway (Great Britain)|Southern Railway]]
| years               = 19 July 1860
| events              = Opened
| mpassengers =
<!--{{Rail pass box |pass_year=2017/18 |passengers={{increase}} 0.176 million}}
{{Rail pass box |pass_year=2018/19 |passengers={{increase}} 0.186 million}}-->
{{Rail pass box |pass_year=2019/20 |passengers={{increase}} 0.190 million}}
{{Rail pass box |pass_year=2020/21 |passengers={{decrease}} 57,806}}
{{Rail pass box |pass_year=2021/22 |passengers={{increase}} 0.150 million}}
{{Rail pass box |pass_year=2022/23 |passengers={{decrease}} 0.140 million}}
{{Rail pass box |pass_year=2023/24 |passengers={{increase}} 0.179 million}}
| footnotes           = Passenger statistics from the [[Office of Rail and Road]]
}}

'''Queenborough railway station''' is on the [[Sheerness Line]], on the [[Isle of Sheppey]] in northern [[Kent]], and serves the town of [[Queenborough]]. It is {{convert|49|mi|22|chain|km}} down the line from {{stn|London Victoria}}.

Train services are provided by [[Southeastern (train operating company)|Southeastern]].

==Facilities==
On Platform 2 (Sheerness bound), there is a substantial and historic two-storey building which contains a ticket office on the ground floor; this is staffed on a part-time basis. There is a self-service ticket machine by the side gate beside the station building to Platform 2. New train information displays with announcements have been installed on each platform replacing the old display on platform 1 which used to show trains in both directions. There are also signals at either end of each platform so if there was a problem with one of the platforms, trains could use the other for services in either direction.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.southeasternrailway.co.uk/travel-information/more-travel-help/station-information/stations/queenborough|title=Queenborough station facilities|work=Southeastern|access-date=21 September 2021}}</ref>

==Services==
All services at Queenborough are operated by [[Southeastern (train operating company)|Southeastern]] using {{brc|375}} [[Electric multiple unit|EMUs]].

The typical off-peak service is one train per hour in each direction between {{stnlnk|Sheerness-on-Sea}} and {{stnlnk|Sittingbourne}}, from where connections are available to {{stn|London Victoria}}, [[St Pancras railway station|London St Pancras International]], {{stnlnk|Dover Priory}} and {{stnlnk|Ramsgate}}. During the peak hours, the service is increased to two trains per hour in each direction.<ref>{{NRtimes|December 2023|212}}</ref>

{{rail start}}
{{s-rail-national|previous=Swale|next=Sheerness-on-Sea|toc=Southeastern|route={{smalldiv|[[Sheerness Line]]}}}}
{{Historical Rail Insert}}
{{s-rail-national|previous=Swale|next=Sheerness Dockyard|toc=SECR|route={{smalldiv|[[Sheerness Line]]}}|status=Historical|note={{smalldiv|Line and station open}}|note2={{smalldiv|Line and station closed}}|rows1=2|rowsmid=2}}
{{s-rail-national|previous=Swale|next=Queenborough Pier|toc=SECR|route={{smalldiv|[[Sheerness Line]]}}|status=Historical|note={{smalldiv|Line and station open}}|note2={{smalldiv|Line and station closed}}|rows1=2|hide1=true|hidemid=true}}
{{s-rail-national|previous=Kings Ferry Bridge North Halt|next=Queenborough Pier|toc=SECR|route={{smalldiv|[[Sheerness Line]]}}|status=Historical|note={{smalldiv|Line open, station closed}}|note2={{smalldiv|Line and station closed}}|rows1=2|rowsmid=2}}
{{s-rail-national|previous=Kings Ferry Bridge North Halt|next=Sheerness-on-Sea|toc=SECR|route={{smalldiv|[[Sheerness Line]]}}|status=Historical|note={{smalldiv|Line open, station closed}}|note2={{smalldiv|Line and station open}}|rows1=2|hide1=true|hidemid=true}}
{{Disused Rail Insert}}
{{s-rail-national|next=Sheerness East|toc=SR|route={{smalldiv|[[Sheppey Light Railway]]}}|status=Disused|note2={{smalldiv|Line and station closed}}}}
{{end}}

==History==
Queenborough was opened on 19 July 1860{{sfn|Butt|1995|p=193}}{{sfn|Quick|2009|p=324}} by the Sittingbourne and Sheerness Railway (S&SR), a nominally independent company which had powers to construct a {{convert|7.125|mi|km|abbr=off|adj=on}} [[branch line]] from {{rws|Sittingbourne}} across the [[River Swale]] to a terminus near the entrance of {{rws|Sheerness Dockyard}}.{{sfn|Gray|1984|p=113}} The line was worked from the outset by the [[London, Chatham and Dover Railway]] which absorbed the S&SR in 1876.{{sfn|Gray|1984|p=113}}{{sfn|White|1992|p=45}}{{sfn|Awdry|1990|p=198}}

On 15 May 1876, Queenborough became a junction station with the opening of a short spur to {{rws|Queenborough Pier}} to serve steam ship services.{{sfn|Butt|1995|p=193}}{{sfn|Quick|2009|p=324}} A second line was added on 1 August 1901 with the opening of the [[Sheppey Light Railway]], an {{convert|8.75|mi|km|abbr=off|adj=on}} [[light railway]] across the Isle of Sheppey to {{rws|Leysdown}}.{{sfn|White|1987|p=93}}{{sfn|Dendy Marshall|Kidner|1963|p=364}} There was no direct connection with the Sheerness Line and trains for Leysdown departed from the outer face of a newly constructed [[island platform]] at Queenborough.{{sfn|White|1987|p=94}}{{sfn|Course|1974|p=151}} An iron footbridge was erected at the southern end of the platforms to facilitate passengers changing between main line and branch services.{{sfn|Hart|1992|p=39}} Services on the Sheppey Light Railway ceased as of 4 December 1950.{{sfn|Hart|1992|p=94}}

Until the opening of [[Swale railway station|Swale Halt]] in 1922, Queenborough was the only intermediate station on the Sheerness Line.{{sfn|Course|1974|p=150}}{{sfn|Mitchell|Smith|1993|loc=fig. 46}} The imposing two-storey station building has a strong [[Victorian architecture|Victorian]] character with its high-pitched [[gable]]s and round-headed [[sash windows]].{{sfn|Course|1974|p=150}} The building is in a similar style to [[Lymington Town railway station]] which dates from the same period, a resemblance which may be explained by the fact that the construction of both the [[Lymington Branch Line]] and the S&SR was overseen by John Cass Birkinshaw who was replaced as engineer on the S&SR after the company's directors blamed him for the line's slow construction.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.kentrail.org.uk/queenborough.htm | title = Queenborough | access-date = 2012-06-27 | last = Glasspool | first = David | work = Kent Rail}}</ref>

A wooden waiting shelter was provided on the Upside but not on the Downside.{{sfn|Mitchell|Smith|1993|loc=figs. 47 and 52}} The station also had a sizeable [[goods shed]] and [[goods yard]] on the Up side adjacent to the main station building.{{sfn|Mitchell|Smith|1993|loc=fig. 48}} [[rail siding|Sidings]] on the Down side served the Sheerness Steel plant and provided connections for MCD car traffic and shipbreaking activities.{{sfn|Body|1989|p=175}} There was a [[signal box]] on the Up side which was located at the point where the Sheppey branch curved away to the east;{{sfn|Mitchell|Smith|1993|loc=fig. X}} this closed on 24 May 1959.{{sfn|Mitchell|Smith|1993|loc=fig. 55}} By this time, the goods shed had already been demolished although the goods yard remained open until 16 August 1971.{{sfn|Mitchell|Smith|1993|loc=fig. 55}}{{sfn|Clinker|1978|p=113}} The line through Queenborough was electrified and the platforms were lengthened in 1959 as part of phase I of the Kent Coast Electrification.{{sfn|Moody|1979|p=135}}

By 1993, much of the station building was no longer in use and only the booking office was staffed on weekdays until mid-morning.{{sfn|Mitchell|Smith|1993|loc=fig. 57}}

== References ==
===References===
{{reflist}}

===Sources===
{{Refbegin}}
*{{Awdry-RailCo}}
*{{cite book|last=Body|first=Geoffrey|title=Railways of the Southern Region|publisher=Patrick Stephens Ltd|year=1989|orig-year=1984|isbn=1-85260-297-X|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/railwaysofsouthe0000body}}
*{{Butt-Stations}}
*{{Cite book|last=Clinker|first=C.R.|title=Clinker's Register of Closed Passenger Stations and Goods Depots in England, Scotland and Wales 1830-1977|date=October 1978|publisher=Avon-AngliA Publications & Services|location=Bristol, Avon|isbn=0-905466-19-5}}
*{{Cite book|last=Course|first=Edwin|title=The Railways of Southern England: Secondary and Branch Lines|year=1974|publisher= B.T. Batsford|location=London|isbn=0-7134-2835-X}}
*{{cite book|last1=Dendy Marshall|first1=C.F.|last2=Kidner|first2=R.W.|title=History of the Southern Railway|year=1963 |orig-year=1937|publisher=[[Ian Allan Publishing|Ian Allan]]|volume=2|location=Shepperton|isbn=0-7110-0059-X}}
*{{Cite book|last1=Gray|first1=Adrian|title=The London, Chatham and Dover Railway|year=1984|publisher=Meresborough Books| location=Rainham|isbn=978-0-905270-88-3}}
*{{Cite book|last1=Hart|first1=Brian|title=The Sheppey Light Railway|year=1992|publisher=Wild Swan Publications|location=Didcot|isbn=1-874103-09-7}}
*{{cite book|last1=Mitchell|first1=Vic|last2=Smith|first2=Keith|title=Branch Lines Around Sheerness|date=July 1993|publisher=Middleton Press|location=Midhurst|isbn=1-8737-9316-2}}
*{{cite book|last=Moody|first=G.T.|title=Southern Electric 1909-1979|year=1979|orig-year=1957|publisher=Ian Allan|location=Shepperton, Surrey|isbn=0-7110-0924-4}}
*{{Quick-Stations}}
*{{Cite book|last1=White|first=H.P.|title=Forgotten Railways: South-East England|volume=6|year=1987|orig-year=1976|publisher= David & Charles|location=Newton Abbot, Devon|isbn = 978-0-946537-37-2}}
*{{Cite book|last=White|first=H.P.|title=A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain: Southern England|volume=2)| year=1992|orig-year=1961|publisher=[[David St John Thomas]]|location=Nairn, Scotland|isbn=0-946537-77-1}}
{{Refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Queenborough railway station}}
{{stn art lrnk|QBR|ME115BD}}
{{Coord|51|24|56.31|N|0|44|59.08|E|type:railwaystation_region:GB|display=title}}
{{Kent railway stations}}
{{TSGN and SE Stations|Sheerness=y|FCC None=y|SN None=y}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Queenborough Railway Station}}
[[Category:Railway stations in Swale]]
[[Category:DfT Category E stations]]
[[Category:Former London, Chatham and Dover Railway stations]]
[[Category:Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1860]]
[[Category:Railway stations served by Southeastern]]
[[Category:Isle of Sheppey]]