Notes: The South Eastern Railway opened their terminus at Dover Town on 7.2.1844. In 1861 the line was extended the short distance on to Dover Admiralty Pier where there was interchange with continental ferries From the 1.11.1861 the London Chatham and Dover railway opened their terminus at Dover Harbour and on 30.8.1864 Chatham trains

Continuous traffic growth in the later years of the 19th Century underlined the need for improving the Admiralty Pier which was open to the elements with two narrow platforms. In rough weather waves broke over the pier and the transshipment of passengers and luggage became a nightmare. To overcome this, work started on a new Dover Marine Station adjacent to the train ferry dock on reclaimed land on the north side of the pier in 1909. The station was completed in 1914 but with the start of WW1 the continental ferry service ceased and the station opened as Dover Admiralty Pier for military use only on

The original Admiralty Pier station had closed with the withdrawal of continental ferries in August 1914 after the start of WW1. With the restoration of continental services after the war the new station was renamed Dover Marine in 1918 and opened for passenger traffic on 18.1.1919

A number of special services were introduced including the 'Golden Arrow', which was first ran in 1926 and was made up entirely of Pullman coaches. The 'Night Ferry' was launched on 14.10.1936 and was Britain's first international passenger sleeper train running between London and Paris and from 1956 to Brussels.

The station was once again in the front line during WW2 suffering much damage. Although the ferry service was once again curtailed the station remained operational resuming its military role which included special passenger trains during the Dunkirk evacuation. After the war the passenger ferries returned but with the popularity of the car new car ferry services were introduced and the number of rail passengers using the ferries dropped dramatically.

Bomb damage during WW2

The Golden Arrow was withdrawn on 30.9.1972 and the Night Ferry followed on 31.10.1980.

On 25.9.1994 Dover Western Docks Station was closed following the completion of the Channel Tunnel and concentration of remaining Dover ferry services on the non-rail connected Eastern Docks. After 'official' closure the station continued to be used by unadvertised passenger trains to Faversham until 19.11.1994 after which date they were classified as

empty stock movements. After closure the station remained in operational use for train berthing and cleaning purposes but all rail connections were finally removed in early 1996.

For further information on Dover's railways and the Admiralty Pier see Dover - Lock and key of the Kingdom web site. See also Night Ferry. Tickets from Michael Stewart

See also Dover Admiralty Pier Station & Dover Harbour