Canterbury West railway station

Canterbury West railway station is the busier of the two stations in Canterbury in Kent, England. All services are operated by Southeastern with both main line and high speed trains serving the station.Although called Canterbury West, the station is about 1/2mi due north of Canterbury East station, and only about 20yards to its west.The station and its line was built by the South Eastern Railway, while Canterbury East was built by the London, Chatham and Dover Railway.HistoryThe station opened on 6 February 1846 when the South Eastern Railway began services to Ashford. Two months later in April services were extended to Ramsgate, and to Whitstable after conversion of the Canterbury and Whitstable Railway and closure of the North Lane terminus. The station was built with two central through tracks and three platforms, one for the Whitstable branch.On 1 July 1889 the Elham Valley Railway reached Canterbury from Folkestone and at this time the run-in boards read Canterbury (SER) Change for Whitstable and Elham Valley Line.The Whitstable branch closed to passenger traffic on 1 January 1931, and traffic from the Elham Valley into Canterbury ceased from 1 December 1940. Following the Southern Region Kent Coast Electrification Scheme Phase 2 electric services started on 9 October 1961. Freight services were withdrawn on 13 September 1965 and the central through tracks were removed later in 1979.