Southeastern Highspeed London–Dover

Britain’s only domestic high-speed service: 225 km/h down HS1 to Ashford, then the 1844 South Eastern main line past Folkestone and under the white cliffs into Dover.

Kent got high-speed trains almost as a by-product. HS1 was built for the Eurostars, and only in December 2009 did Southeastern begin running Hitachi-built Class 395s over it at 225 km/h — the first domestic high-speed service in Britain, and still the only one. A Javelin leaves St Pancras from the platforms next to the Paris trains, holds the international line as far as Ashford, then drops onto the South Eastern main line of 1844: Folkestone, the ledge beneath Abbot’s Cliff where the railway runs at the foot of the white cliffs, and down into Dover. Ashford, which used to be an hour and a quarter from London, is now 37 minutes.

Stations

1. 0 kmLondon St Pancras
2. 9 kmStratford International
3. 36 kmEbbsfleet International
4. 90 kmAshford International
5. 111 kmFolkestone West
6. 112 kmFolkestone Central
7. 124 kmDover Priory

The stations OpenStreetMap lists for this service, in order, with the distance along the line as drawn here. A train may skip some of them.

Along the way

• St Pancras International’s Barlow train shed
• HS1 under the Thames and across the Medway
• Ashford International
• Folkestone and the Channel Tunnel portal
• Abbot’s Cliff and Samphire Hoe beneath the white cliffs
• Dover Priory

How this line was checked

• Line drawn from OpenStreetMap relation 12648799 — the same nodes OpenStreetMap holds for this railway, thinned to within under 25 m of them
• Checked against OpenStreetMap: the whole line lies on real track, a median 4 m from it
• Checked against the running timetable via ÖBB Scotty: our line sits under 100 m from the shape of the scheduled train on this line
• Wikipedia has an article for this line
• See for yourself: open this line on the map with OpenStreetMap's own railway drawn underneath it

Questions and answers

How long is the Southeastern Highspeed?

The Southeastern Highspeed runs 125 km from London to Dover.

How long does the Southeastern Highspeed take?

The fastest scheduled journey is 1 h 3 min for the 125 km. That is an average of 119 km/h end to end. The line's top service speed is 225 km/h.

Who runs the Southeastern Highspeed?

Southeastern, with Class 395 Javelin.

How old is the Southeastern Highspeed?

The line has been in service since 2009. That is the year the atlas dates it from: for a modern brand running over an older railway, it is the railway's date, not the brand's.

How often does the Southeastern Highspeed run?

Hourly, most continuing to Ramsgate via Deal.

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