Hoo Junction is a rail yard on the North Kent Line

North Kent Line

The North Kent Line is a railway line which connects central and south east London with Dartford and Medway.-Construction:The North Kent Line was the means by which the South Eastern Railway were able to connect its system to London at London Bridge...

. It is located near the village of Higham, Kent

Higham, Kent

Higham is a small village bordering the Hoo Peninsula, in Kent, between Gravesend and Rochester. The civil parish of Higham is in Gravesham district and as at the 2001 UK Census, had a population of 3,938.-History:...

 and also Shorne Marshes

North Kent Marshes

The North Kent Marshes, located in the north of the county of Kent on the Thames Estuary in south-east England, is one of 22 Environmentally Sensitive Areas recognised by the UK government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs...

; it is operated by EWS. The yard is situated between Gravesend

Gravesend railway station

Gravesend railway station serves the town of Gravesend in north Kent; train services are operated by Southeastern. The station is 24 miles from London Charing Cross...

 and Higham railway stations, at the junction with the freight-only single track

Single track (rail)

A single track railway is where trains in both directions share the same track. Single track is normally used on lesser used rail lines, often branch lines, where the traffic density is not high enough to justify the cost of building double tracks....

 line to the Hoo Peninsula

Hoo Peninsula

The Hoo Peninsula is a peninsula in England separating the estuaries of the rivers Thames and Medway. It is dominated by a line of sand and clay hills, surrounded by an extensive area of marshland composed of alluvial silt. The name Hoo is the Old English word for spur of land.-History:The Romans...

 (see the Hundred of Hoo Railway

Hundred of Hoo Railway

The Hundred of Hoo Railway is a railway line in Kent, England, following the North Kent Line from Gravesend before diverging at Hoo Junction near Shorne Marshes and continuing in an easterly direction across the Hoo Peninsula, passing near the villages of Cooling, High Halstow, Cliffe and Stoke...

).

Layout

Hoo Junction consists of both up and down yards either side of the East - West main line, with the single track freight line sharing the entrance to the down yard as it exits to the north east.

The up yard (to the south of the main line) consists of 14 sidings and 3 through tracks, with other ancillary sidings. The down yard (to the north of the main line) consists of 10 sidings and 3 through tracks. Some sidings in the down yard have been taken up.

Westinghouse Rail Systems

Westinghouse Rail Systems

Westinghouse Rail Systems Ltd is a British supplier of railway signalling and control equipment to the rail industry worldwide. Its head office is in Chippenham, Wiltshire, where it manufactures a variety of mechanical and electrical/electronic railway signalling equipment...

 have buildings adjacent to the north perimeter of the yard.

Traffic

The yard re-marshals wagon traffic passing on the main line as well as wagons from the peninsula freight line. The majority of traffic handled is aggregate wagons, although steel strip carriers are also present. Infrastructure units and ballast trains also use the yard. Container traffic from Thamesport

Thamesport

London Thamesport is a container seaport on the River Medway, serving the North Sea. It is on the Isle of Grain, in the Medway unitary authority, Kent, England in the United Kingdom. It is sited on the former Port Victoria.-History:...

 passes through the yard non-stop.

Staff halt

Hoo Junction Staff Halt is a halt station which opened in 1956 in the rail yard, for which it was built to serve. The down platform is on North Kent Line before the junction onto the Hundred of Hoo Railway

Hundred of Hoo Railway

The Hundred of Hoo Railway is a railway line in Kent, England, following the North Kent Line from Gravesend before diverging at Hoo Junction near Shorne Marshes and continuing in an easterly direction across the Hoo Peninsula, passing near the villages of Cooling, High Halstow, Cliffe and Stoke...

 line TQ 6950 7369 51.4364°N 0.4390°W, while the up platform is only on North Kent Line TQ 6980 7364 51.4358°N 0.4433°W.

Down platform

Up platform

External links

• Sketch of Hoo Junction track plan
• Kent Rail website detailing the operations of Hoo Junction
• Kent Rail detailing the staff halt
• Subterranea Britannica