Southeastern: St Pancras International - Dover Priory via Ashford International on December 2nd 2022

So a onboard journey from St Pancras International to Dover Priory via Ashford International

Calling at Stratford International, Ebbsfleet International, Ashford International, Folkestone West, Folkestone Central and finishing up at Dover Priory

Onboard a pair of 6 car Class 395 Javelins on the 0734 service to Dover Priory departing Platform 11 from St Pancras International

For the first half of the Journey as a 12 car set we travel over HS1 through London Tunnel 1 into Stratford International our first stop before heading back to London Tunnel 2 then emerging at Dagenham Dock

Then the line travels through Rainham alongside the London, Tilbury and Southend Line via Grays as far as Purfleet

Then the line crosses over the LTS Line as well as passing over and under the A282 Dartford Crossing before descending back into Thames Tunnel before the approach to Ebbsfleet International Low level which the lines towards Gravesend diverge over to the High Level Platforms

At the time of filming no Eurostar serve Ebbsfleet international or the next stop at Ashford International which likely won't be until 2025 at the earliest according to Eurostar

After Ebbsfleet International we travel through the Kent countryside which the lines top speed is 186mph although our trains are limited to 140mph we travel alongside the A2 / M2 then after the M2's Junction 2 for West Mailing we crossover the Medway Viaduct which crosses over the Chatham Main Line towards Rochester as well as the Medway Valley Line towards Maidstone West and the River Medway

Then we head back into tunnel again known as the North Downs Tunnel heading slightly south

After emerging from that we then come alongside the M20 Motorway which the line course mostly follows just before Ashford International

After crossing over the M20 Motorway we slow down for the approach into Ashford International and arriving on Platform 6

At Ashford our train divides with the rear set terminating before proceeding as a empty stock movement to Ramsgate via Canterbury West whilst our train the front set continues on as a 6 car for the rest of the Journey

Also we switch from 25kv AC to 750 Volts DC 3rd Rail System

On departure we join the South Eastern Main Line before Passing through Westenhanger and Sandling where HS1 mostly shadows the South Eastern Main Line just before Dollands Moor Junction

At Dollands Moor Junction the original course of the 1994 - 2003 Eurostar approach continues straight on towards the Channel Tunnel nowadays used by European Freight workings whilst we diverge and head towards Folkestone

The first of two stops in Folkestone first up is Folkestone West then less than half a mile away is Folkestone Central

After that we pass over the suburbs of Folkestone area before passing through 3 tunnels heading towards Dover

One of them the 3rd one being Shakespeare Cliff Tunnel which was an area used as storage for Tunnel Segments during the Construction of the Channel Tunnel from December 1987 - May 1994

After emerging from Shakespeare Cliff Tunnel we pass along the rebuilt sea wall which during a storm in December 2015 suffered serious damage

It was discovered that the former wall wooden supports had eroded away so badly that they needed complete replacing

As a result the line between Folkestone Central and Dover Priory was shut for over 10 months whilst the old wooden supports of the wall was removed and being completely rebuilt in a task was expected to take around a year however the line reopened 3 months ahead of schedule in September 2016.

On final approach to Dover Priory the line passes under the roads linking up to nearby Dover Harbour before passing through Dover Priory Harbour Tunnel before arriving into Platform 1 at Dover Priory which is the terminus for London Charing Cross services via Tonbridge as well as London Victoria services via Canterbury East.

Ramsgate trains can continue from Dover Priory on the Kent Coast Line via Sandwich

Our train terminates at Dover Priory but will only remain on the platform for just 9 minutes before heading back to St Pancras International.

Music used:
JJD - Adventure
Music provided by NCS

Video link:
NoCopyrightSounds
   • JJD - Adventure | Glitch Hop | NCS - Copyr...  

Filmed on Friday December 2nd 2022 on iPhone 14 Pro and edited on iMovie

#southeasternhighspeed #southeastern #hs1 #kent