Just a stone’s throw from Dovetail Games’ HQ, the Chatham Main Line is one of the main arterial routes from central London through the heart of Kent via the Medway towns, towards the Kent Coast – and you can now discover this picturesque route in Train Simulator.
The line was originally built by the London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LC&DR), starting at London’s second busiest terminus, London Victoria. The station originally opened in October 1860 as the eventual terminus for the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway; however, two years later an expansion to the station was built for the LC&DR.
Running from London Victoria, the line passes the famous Battersea Power Station and criss-crosses lines to south London stations such as Clapham Junction. After Wandsworth Road and Clapham High Street, the line diverges through Herne Hill, West Dulwich, Penge East and Beckenham Junction; services can also take the Catford Loop Line, which passes through Denmark Hill, Peckham Rye and Catford.
This content requires the base game Train Simulator Classic 2024 on Steam in order to play.
Also
[PC, Steam] Train Simulator: Chatham Main Line: London Victoria & Blackfriars – Dover & Ramsgate Route (Add-On)
Summer comes soonest in the South, so climb on-board and visit the Kent Coast with the sprawling and complete Chatham Main Line for Train Simulator!
The history of rail in South East London and Kent is enriched with competitive history. By the mid-1840s, the South Eastern Railway had built the main line from London to Dover via Redhill and Tonbridge. This vital but long-winded link to the major port town of Dover made the SER a key player in the movement of traffic throughout Kent, and this remained as such for the decades to follow.
Not satisfied with missing out on the Capital to Coast battle, and with a desire to link the well-populated North Kent to these key destinations, the East Kent Railway (which had already built Strood to Faversham by 1859), changed its name to the London, Chatham and Dover Railway. Then from 1860 until 1863, rails spread out east and west to form this new, shorter main line.
This content requires the base game Train Simulator Classic 2024 on Steam in order to play.