(credit: Network Rail)

Dover Priory footbridge and canopy upgrade thanks to £3.5m investment from Network Rail

Refurbishment and repair work at Dover Priory station will increase the life span of the footbridge while providing an upgraded canopy roof on the platforms to keep passengers dry in the rain.

Dover Priory is the main station for Dover, one of the best-known port towns on Britain's south coast. The station is 77 miles down the line from London Victoria and currently managed by Southeastern.  Services are also operated to London Charing Cross, along with high-speed services to St Pancras International. 

Work at the station included:

• Steelwork repairs
• Lift-shaft concrete repairs and painting
• Replacement of the footbridge roof
• New lighting system installed

Fiona Taylor, Kent route director for Network Rail, said: “Our Railway Upgrade Plan is all about providing a safer and more reliable railway fit for the 21st century. We are making full use of our resources to carry out these improvements, enhancing the railway at Dover Priory which will bring long-term benefits to passengers.”

Kyle Miller, station manager for Southeastern, said: “We’re always wanting to do more for our passengers and this refurbishment by Network Rail at Dover Priory makes a big difference to the station environment, improving the appearance of the footbridge and the platform canopies and ensuring that the fabric of the building is in the best possible condition.”

Note to Editors:

Dover Priory opened on 22 July 1861 as the temporary terminus of the London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR). It became a through station on 1 November 1861, with the completion of a tunnel through the Western Heights to gain access to the Western Docks area, where LCDR created Dover Harbour station. The station was known as Dover Town but was renamed in July 1863.

The Southern Railway consolidated passenger services at Priory in 1927 and modernised the station between 1930 and 1932 and the station re-opened on 8 May 1932.