Swanley Garden City

Description
Swanley Garden City is a station located on the end of the now shortened New Tonbridge Line that used to connect Brackwell Common to Tonbridge. It has 2 platforms, formed of an island platform that is adjacent to an aggregate terminal. On the terminal side, there is a stabling siding which despite it's wear and tear, still sees regular use. Both platforms can hold a 12 coach train.

History
The Beeching Axe saw a close to the line to passenger services in 1967, however freight trains at the nearby gravel and aggregate terminal continued to operate as usual.

The line reopened to passenger service in 1978 after a fair amount of lobbying from the public for a more direct connection from the garden city to the nearby market town of East Minsterton. The poor road connections and lack of motorway for most traffic meant that the journey time on a bus was usually 3 times longer than it would've been on the train. The line was electrified on the 25Kv AC OHLE system, just like the South Eastern Main Line was, a few years later in 1980, with the first direct services from London to Swanley Garden City running in 1981.

The station went through a minor refurbishment in the 1990s which saw the demolition of the 3rd platform to allow space for the new housing development on the north side of the station. The main island platform was extended to accommodate 12 car trains that ran during the peak.

In 2012, the signal boxes at Washton, Swanley Heights and Swanley Garden City controlling the branch were closed with control going to the recently enlarged PSB at East Minsterton. All of the semaphores and most of the 2 aspect colour light signals and repeaters were stripped and replaced with 3 aspect LED signals which allowed for more intensive headways during the peak. Whilst the signal boxes at Washton and Swanley Garden City were demolished, the one at Swanley Heights was instead downgraded to being a "Gate Box" due to it's proximity to the level crossing.

Services
Throughout the day, there are 2 trains per hour calling all stations to London Charing Cross and a 2tph shuttle train to East Minsterton to offer better connections with services to London, Lincoln End and Sevenoaks. They are usually formed of Class 315 or Class 321 EMUs, though Class 375s have been seen to run on the line, especially during Peak Hours.

On Mondays to Fridays, there is a single return service departing at 07:21 and arriving on the return at 18:32 that runs from Swanley Garden City to Cantebury Midland Road, calling at all stops en route. It is run by a 4 car Class 172 DMU and has been running this return service since late 2013, after the new junction at Washton connecting the East towards Lincoln End was opened.