First opened by the London Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR) in 1882, Otford is located on the line from Swanley to Sevenoaks via Bat & Ball, just north of the point where the route towards Maidstone and Ashford branches off. This photograph, taken by John Scrace on 8 August 1989, shows the station building after it had been repainted into the colours of Network SouthEast.

Otford was a relatively late addition to the network, appearing twenty years after the opening of the rest of the line. In 1862, the Sevenoaks Railway Company, later absorbed into the LCDR, built the line from Sevenoaks Junction (later renamed Swanley Junction) to Sevenoaks (now Bat & Ball), with intermediate stations at the villages of Eynsford and Shoreham. Despite it having a similar population to the other two, a station for Otford village was not included in the plan.

In 1869 the line was extended to Sevenoaks Tubs Hill (now Sevenoaks) via a junction with the South Eastern Railway’s 1868 extension from Chislehurst to Tonbridge. The line from Otford Junction to Maidstone East was opened in 1874 and extended to Ashford in 1884. Although a wooden platform was installed at this junction to facilitate changing between Sevenoaks and Maidstone trains, it was never accessible from the village. In fact, it was not until a local schoolmaster, Richard Hoff, began extensive lobbying that the LCDR finally decided to open a station on the current site in 1882.

Otford’s main building, unlike many LCDR stations, is constructed from red brick. There used to be a bay platform, once served by a shuttle service to Sevenoaks, a small goods shed and a yard. Electrification arrived in 1935 when the line to Sevenoaks was energised. The third rail was also extended to Maidstone East in 1939.

Today, Otford is served by Southeastern services running between stations on the Ashford line and both Victoria and Charing Cross, as well as by Thameslink trains linking Sevenoaks with Blackfriars and points beyond.

Photo: John Scrace [082650]