The history of Folkestone Harbour dates back to 1804 when the Earl of Radnor petitioned Parliament for the construction of a stone harbour. In 1807, an Act of Parliament was passed authorising the newly inaugorated Folkestone Harbour Company to build a pier and harbour. Finance came from the Government Loans Commission and Thomas Telford was apointed as consulting engineer. Construction started in 1809 at the site of an existing spit head of shingle and took 12 years to complete.  The harbour walls were built of local sand stone blocks which formed the outer facing with a crused stone infill forming an L shaped harbour wall.  The harbour was enclosed by building the 700 foot long east pier to leave a 120' entrance channel between the end of the pier and the east end of the harbour wall. The south pier comprised the south side of the harbour wall which had a langth of 950 feet.

Once completed, the harbour brought an increase in trade and the town's population grew slightly but development was hampered by silt being carried into the harbour by the channel currents. The Folkestone Harbour Company invested heavily in removing the silt but with little success. In 1842, the company became bankrupt and the Government put the derelict harbour up for sale. It was bought by the South Eastern Railway Company (SER), which was then building the London to Dover railway line. Although the SER still showed interest in attracting tourists to Dover their main continental interest was the promotion of their own harbour at Folkestone and they were keen to launch a cross channel ferry service at the earliest opportunity.

In order to overcome a clause in their 1836 Act of Incorporation which forbade them from running a passenger boat service to the continent, the SER created a nominally independent company to operate the steamer service.

Following the opening the temporary station at Folkestone on 28 June 1843 the South Eastern Railway ran a day trip to Boulogne on 1 July for invited guests.
Work to complete Sir William Cubitt's 19-arch Foord viaduct and the double track harbour branch progressed rapidly under the direction of civil engineer George Turnbull who also took on the job of dredging the harbour. Once this had been completed a ferry service between Folkestone and Boulogne was launched on 2 August 1843, and within five months of Folkestone station opening 20,000 people had made the crossing. On Monday 18 September the temporary station closed with trains being extended into the new temporary terminus which was well laid out and popular with travellers. Every train was met by horse-drawn carriages ready to take passengers to Dover or Folkestone where steam ferries arrived and departed with every tide. Folkestone soon became the SER’s principal packet station for the Continental traffic to Boulogne.

The first properties along the route of the Harbour branch were demolished during September that year. The Kent Herald reported that 'gangs of men had descended upon the railway to the harbour where twenty houses had already been swept away with many more yet to go.' 

It was planned that the line to the Harbour and a parallel horse carriage road from the station to the new Pavilion Hotel would be opened for passengers on New Years Day. This date proved to be too optomistic due mainly to adeverse weather. The branch did open for goods traffic on 18 December as far as a coal jetty on the north side of the harbour, this comprised a 12 arch brick viaduct that ran across thr west side of the harbour parallel with the west wall which was also known as the west pier. The viaduct carried two tracks; it was flanked on each side by timber extensions on timber piers each of which carried a single track making a total of four parallel tracks. Construction of the swing bridge to take the line over the 150 foot gap between the viaduct to the south side of the harbour hadn't been started by this time and to the south of thr harbour wall the shingle spit remained undeveloped.  A 1843 plan shows viaduct and possibly a swing bridge.  The Pavillion hotel, Harbour House, a packet office and coal store are all shown but no station.

The first recorded passenger journey along the branch was made on 16 January 1844 when a train left Folkestone station and ran along the branch stopping just short of the harbour where workmen who had been drinking in the Victoria public house on South Street boarded the train which then returned to Folkestone. 

On 30/31 January 1844 a Board of Trade inspection was carried out by Major General Charles Pasley of the Royal Engineers and on 11 February the opening of the line for freight traffic was sanctioned

The harbour branch was destined to handle goods traffic only for several years. In 1843 contractors began reclaiming land to the south of the harbour by extending the shingle spit southwards prior to the construction of the new station, goods yard, sidings and another pier. At the beginning of March 1844 the first regular coal traffic started with twelve tons of coal being hauled on each trip between the harbour and Folkestone station from where the wagons were despatched to other destinations.  A number of locomotives were kept on permanent standby at the two Folkestone back-to-back sheds ready for use on the steeply graded branch which dropped 111 feet over a distance of 1328 yards. 

The SER were keen that a passenger service along the branch should be started at the earliest opportunity and the Kent Herald reported in 1846: ‘lt is not impossible that the passengers from the railway station junction will be conveyed to the harbour on a tram road, instead of at present by omnibus’. 

By the end of the year the SER were optomistic that the launch of a passenger service was imminent stating in December 1846 that:'Passengers for Folkestone, upon leaving London, will be placed in separate carriages, as in the case of branch lines, and on arriving at Folkestone station, will be conveyed by the tram—road over a handsome swing bridge which will cross the harbour to the opposite side, into a very large and capacious permanent station to be erected in brickwork.

Within weeks work on the swing bridge was underway and contractor Mr Grissell optomistically predicted that it would be completed by May 1847. Construction of facilities on the south side of the harbour were underway in 1847.  These included a station on the south side of the swing bridge and a large goods warehouse to the east of the station. The foundations for the south-east facing pier were also laid at this time.  It was intened that trains from Folkestone Station would be able to run into the Harbour station but in order to do this they would need to first run into sidings to the east of Folkestone station where a reversal was required before beginning the 1 in 30 decent to the harbour. The completed line now divided the harbour which was now known as the inner harbour to the west of the viaduct and the outer harbour to the east. 

With the opening of the Nord Railway's Boulogne to Amiens line in April 1848 the completion of the Harbour branch was now pressing but there was still a lot of work to complete to satisfy the Board of Trade inspectors. Once this had been completed a number of experminental runs along the branch were conducted by Captain George Wynne of the Royal Engineers. His report concluded that the line could be opened to passenger traffic provided that trains do not travel at a greater speed than 15mph

The Folkestone Harbour branch opened for passenger traffic on 1 January 1849 and this marked the launch of the world's first international rail - sea - rail service between London and Paris. At this time however although the swing bridge had been completed there were no rails across it with passengers from Boulonge alighting at the pier from where they had to walk across the swing bridge to reach the train.

Rails were eventually laid across the swing bridge in 1850 and Folkestone Harbour station was opened that year.  The station immediately south of the swing bridge comprised two short facing platforms with an overall (trainshed) roof. There were buffer stops at the rear of the platforms. Access to the goods yard and the pier required the use of a turntable sited between the station and the swing bridge. From here a line ran at right angles to the harbour line to reach the large goods warehouse. There was a complex network of short sidings which were all accessed by wagon turntables. A large customs house was built between the station and the goods warehouse facing onto the south pier where the continental steamers berthed. A signal box was provided half way across the viaduct on the west side.

In 1856 the station and refreshment rooms were rebuilt and during 1876 there were further modifications to the station. By this time the west platform line had been extended through the back of the trainshed where there was a wagon turntable giving access to new sidings. On 15 October 1881 the Prince of Wales laid the foundation stone for the new pier. Work on new pier and extended passenger platforms for trains to run further seawards was completed in 1883 when passenger steamers were transferred to the new pier while cargo steamers continued to use the south pier. At this time the only line running onto the pier was from the goods yard. To reach this involved the use of at least two wagon turntables so it was not available for passenger use.  

In 1893 work started to substantially rebuild the station.  This involved the demolition of the terminus which was rebuilt as a through station on a tight curve which brought it in line with the new pier. Single storey stone faced buildings were provided on both platforms which were protected from the weather by short elaborate V-shaped canopies with an SER clover valance built on a lattice iron frame and supported on cast iron columns. The platforms were spanned by a lattice covered footbridge at the north end opf the canopies. There was a second open lattice footbridge on the south side of the swing bridge.  The swing bridge was also replaced at this time. 

Access to an enlarged goods yard was still by a wagon turntable between the swing brodge and the station but there was also now direct access via points at the south end of the down platform with one siding running alongside the goods warehouse or by an awkward reversal from the pier.  The small goods yard was a maze of 21 sidings and the 1908 map (reproduced below) shows four wagon turntables were still in use; these were required to gain access to the three lines that ran into the goods warehouse. There were also four carriage berthing sidings to the west of the station accessed by trailing points between the up platform and the pier. A wooden signal box was privided on the up platform at the south end of the station building to control acces to these sidings. 

As part of the rebuild work started to rebuild the timber pier in concrete and to lengthen it. Once this had been completed a third timber platform was built on the pier in 1905 alongside the up line, this was separted from the exisitin up plaform by the trailing line into the carriage berthing sidings. This platform was provided with weather protection in the form of a flat canopy witha clover valance. The 1908 maqp below shows a third signal box on the south side of the trailing junction; this controlled the tracks on the pier. 

The rebuilt station and pier were completed in 1904 almost coincided with the arrival the powerful turbine steamers, the first of these, The Queen, being brought into service the previous year when introduced on the Folkestone—Boulogne service. On 12 July 1904 the rebuilt station was officially opened by the French Ambassador Paul Cambon.

Circa 1915 the wagon turntable on the south side of the swing bridge was finally removed and the oresent signal box was built by the SE & CR at the north end of the up platform to a Saxby & Farmer design. 

During WW1 ferry operations ceased and the station closed on 29 November 1915 foe the duration of the war, reopening on 1 March 1919 when continental steamer services resumed. Despite this closure to passengers the station remained busy with huge numbers of troops, medical staff and freight passing through the station on their way to the front line.  Folkestone was also an important disembarkation point for rerurning wounded servicemen with many Red Cross trains transporting the wounded from Folkestone Harbour to the Kent & Canterbury Hospital which was conveniently served by the nearby Canterbury South station on the Elham Valley Line. Other soldiers were trassferred to ambulances and busses on arrival from where they were transported to Shornecliff Camp and on to the Bevan hospital and convalescent home at Sandgate. The first wounded soldiers arrived on 27 August 1914, shortly after the Battle of Mons. A few monhs later, that station had an important role to play in the evacuation of Belgian soldiers with the first arriving at Folkestone on 10 October that year.

After the grouping on 1 January 1923, Folkestone Harbour came under the control of the Southern Railway and more changes and alterations were to follow. The first of these came in 1930 when the 1893 swing bridge was replaced over a weekend by a heavier more substantial bridge that is still in place today. This was suitble for the heavier rolling stock that the Southern Railway were intending to try out on the branch. These were however unsuited to banking duties on the branch and the Southern Railway reverted to James Stirling designed R1 class 0-6-0 tanks that had been used successfully on the branch since 1910.

In 1938 the down platform was extended by 215 yards almost doubling itslength by extending southwards towards the pier and level with the south end of the isolated timber platform. It would obviously have been desirable to extend the up platform in the same way but as the sidings to the west of the station were still in use and, by 1938 had been expanded forn the opriginal four sidings to twelve sidings.The trailing connection to the pier line prevented the extension of the up platform so the unuasual arrangement of two separate up platforms remained for the time being. Substantial new canopies were provided covering much of the extended platforms  A new fully enclosed concrete footbridge was built near the south end of the platforms replacing the earlier covered lattice bridge which had been demolished in 1920. 

As in WW1 ferry services were suspended during WW2 and with the railways opnce again under government control the station once again closed on 5 September 1939.  The Harbour station had a part to play in 'Operation Pied Piper', the evacuation of major cities, which began on 1 September 1939. At this time many London children were sent to the comparative safety of Kent. Folkestone was expected to take its quota of 13,000 children; with refugees arriving at the harbour station frm the continent and children arriving from London. Their stay on the south coast was, however, short-lived with evacuees being moved in June 1940, when a seaborne invasion was expected. Folkestone became a garrison town with the foreshore and harbour becoming a restricted area only accessible to military personnel. 

In 1940 The Harbour had a vitally important role to play in Operation Dynamo, the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force from Dunkirk.  Thousands of exhausted returning troops were landed and taken inland by trains from the Herbour station.

After the war ferry services resumed in July 1947 and Folkestone Harbour reopened just in time to become part of British Railways Southern Region after nationalisation in January 1948.

Initially little on the branch changed until 1959 when the aging R1 tank engines that had proved so successful on the line for nearly 50 years were replaced by ex-GWR pannier tanks.  Therer stay ay Folkestone was however to ber short lived as the branch was electrified in 1960 as part of Stage 2 of the Kent Coast Electrification scheme. New colour light signalling came in to use on 18 February 1960 and the branch was electrified in June 1961. Although the line was controled from the new power box at Folkestone East the box at the north end of the up platform was retained to control the level crossing and the points on the platform lines. Following electrification the carriage berthing sidings to the west of the station were taken out of use.

The station closed to goods traffic on 17 August 1968  and all the goods sidings and the redundant carriage sidings were quickly lifted. The site of the goods yard was used in conjunction with car ferries with a new custom house and ferry terminal being built behind the down platform. Several sources state that with the removal of the trailing line serving the carriage sidings the two up platforms were finally joined to make one platform but recent photopgraphic evidence shows this didn't happen.


In 1980 a second fully enclosed translucent concetina footbridge was built over the station roughly on the site if the earlier lattice bridge. This gave access to the Sealink ferry terminal from the booking office and buffet restaurant behind the up platform.  When the boat trains serving Dover Western Docks were withdrawn in 1994 following the opening of the Channel Tunnel, those at Folkestone continued to operate although traffic was significantly reduced until there were only two scheduled daily services, one from Charing Cross connecting with the 11.15 Seacat service to Boulonge and another at 13.15 for the return working. Passenger services were finally withdrawn in May 2001 following the transfer of the Seacat service to Ramsgate in September 2000.  The electric current was disconnected from the branch later in the year and the up line was taken out of use. 

This wasn't however the end of passenger traffic at Folkestone Harbour. TPWS automatic warning system equipment was installed along the Harbour branch in May 2002 and private charter services began running into the station. These included the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express (VSOE).  This new service was threatened in April 2006 when new plans were proposed for redevelopment of the entire harbour site as a marina with a new dual carriageway road running along the harbour branch. The last VSOE train was scheduled for 9 November 2006 with the actual last train, a blue Pullman special running on 14 December.  Closure was however postponed with a steam charter running into the station on 27 January 2007.

Closure was again announced for 12 April 2008 and a closing ceremony took place with an official last train, another steam excursiuon, running into the station and three Class 73 Electro-Diesels. The line didn't however close following objections from EWS, the Department for Transport and Southeastern Trains and VSOE services continued to run every Thursday and Sunday from London Victoria. 

In 2008 an association opposing the closure was formed, with the primary aim of gaining control of the branch either through purchase or a lease with an option to buy. The group, called the Remembrance Line Association proposes turning it into a mainline connected heritage railway, a 'Leaving for War' museum and a memorial dedicated to the troops that arrived on trains to the branch and left on ships to fight in both World War I and World War II. It also proposes hosting regular national railtours to the branch, and would permanently operate a tourist shuttle service up and down the 1in30 gradient, utilising its own rolling stock and locomotives. Further plans include a revived passenger ferry to Boulogne. On Sunday, 21 December 2008, the Remembrance Line Association ran a railtour to the branch using the Southern Railway preserved diesel electric Class 201 No. 1001.

Another 'last train', a steam hauled rail tour visited the branch on 14 March 2009. On 20 March 2009, Network Rail announced they had begun the formal process to close the line and station on cost grounds, having redeveloped Folkestone West with new waiting facilities for the VSOE passengers. The only traffic now using the branch was an occasional inspection train. Up to August 2010, the closure process had not proceeded past the statutory 'mothballing' stage, making the railway still officially operational. This was to allow protracted negotiations between all interested parties to run their full course to ensure the optimum benefits for the Folkestone Harbour statutory port area and to fully investigate heritage, conservation and other planning issues pertaining to the Shepway District as a whole. On 30 January 2011 The Remembrance Line Association submitted its business plan for the future of the branch

The final inspection tran ran on 24 February 2012 but this was forced to stop just short of the Harbour station because of the poor condition of the pointwork. 


On 28 December 2012 The Remembrance Line's operating business submitted a revised business plan to use the branch for a tram-train scheme to concentrate long stay car parking at a Park and Ride with frequent services to the harbour and Leas Water Lifts (for Town Centre and Coastal Park). Changes in rail regulation now allow such services to share main lines and this proposal would also link the proposed Seafront Development to Central London.


On 20 November 2013 the Department for Transport published a proposal to close the line and station serving Folkestone Harbour. Consultation on the closure ended on 28 February 2014, and the line was formally closed on 31 May 2014.










 to turn back the clock and re-start boat train operation in connection with fast ferries to Boulogne.





The harbour jetty was the existing double track viaduct flanked on either side by wooden piers holding a single line.