Kent coastal daily trains from the Woolwich line return soon

Daily trains heading to Kent coastal resorts from the Woolwich line are set to return for the summer holidays.

Weekend trains have been running for some weeks but Monday 21 July sees the first direct weekday service.

After calling at all stations to Dartford after departing Cannon Street at 8:54am the service heads on to Whitstable, Herne Bay, Margate, Broadstairs and Ramsgate.

Trains will be running via Greenwich rather than Lewisham due to the Blackheath tunnel closure.

The service has switched a number of times between running via Lewisham or Greenwich and continues to run via Greenwich even after the tunnel reopens, which is expected on Monday 28 July.

To give an indication of times, a train from Woolwich Arsenal to Whitstable will take one hour and 32 minutes.

The service will be operated by Networkers, with the first few weekend services being operated by the train painted into Network Southeast colours. There’s no guarantee that will happen for weekday services.

Hopefully it does remain the 465/9 variant however which is a lot nice inside and not bad for a journey of an hour or more.

The service stops at Abbey Wood so those from east London can use the Elizabeth line to reach it for onward travel. Whilst not the fastest way to reach the coast it’s a novel one, and does mean less changing en route.

Alternatively people can take a Thameslink service to Medway and change to reach the coasts which does guarantee two air conditioned trains, but a wait in between services.

That will have to be the chosen method returning anyway, as there’s no direct trains listed.