Dollands Moor
On 17th November 1973 a treaty on the construction and operation of the Channel Tunnel was signed by the then British Foreign Secretary, Sir Alex Douglas-Home, and French Foreign Minister M. Michel Jobert at Chequers in Buckinghamshire (ref: The Scotsman, 19th November 1973). As part of this Channel Tunnel attempt, temporary sidings and a refuse tip — where spoil from Channel Tunnel boring would be dumped — were planned for Dollands Moor (ref: Channel Tunnel Bill, House of Commons Debate, UK Parliament Hansard, 5th December 1973), which was an area of woodland in the Parish of Saltwood, situated on the north western fringes of Folkestone.
On 20th January 1975 the British Government announced their decision to abandon the Channel Tunnel project (ref: Kent Evening Post, 21st January 1975). However, it was revived eleven years later through the signing of the Fixed Link Treaty in Canterbury Cathedral on 12th February 1986 (ref: House of Commons Debate, UK Parliament Hansard, 5th June 1986), and Dollands Moor was again in scope. By May of the same year it had been proposed that freight sidings would be provided at Dollands Moor, where trains would wait before entering the Channel Tunnel and, in the reverse direction, wait to join British Rail’s (BR) Kent Coast via Ashford Main Line (ref: Branch Line News 538, Branch Line Society, 29th May 1986).
Initial plans of the yard showed eight loop sidings on the north side of BR’s main line, connected to the latter at their western ends near Saltwood Tunnel and, at their eastern ends, to the tracks leading to the Channel Tunnel. A series of dead-end sidings would be laid for holding locomotives, in addition to a couple of sidings for parking crippled wagons. Only the loop siding nearest the main line would be equipped with third rail; all loops and some of the dead-end sidings would be electrified with 25kV overhead wires, as would that section of the Kent Coast Main Line parallel with the freight yard (ref: Branch Line News 544, Branch Line Society, 21st August 1986). The track in nearby Saltwood and Sandling Tunnels would be lowered to accommodate containers of 8-foot 6-inch height (ref: Branch Line News 544, Branch Line Society, 21st August 1986).
A plan that includes "up" and "down" passengers lines of High Speed 1 and Dollands Moor’s connection with them. Click the above for a larger version. © David Glasspool
Officially, the yard at Dollands Moor was known as a Freight Inspection Facility (ref: Channel Tunnel Bill Standing Committee A, House of Commons, UK Parliament, 20th January 1987). They formed an operational security requirement of Channel Tunnel freight, where final safety inspections would be undertaken before formations embarked on their journey to the continent. BR had also earmarked an additional site for freight sidings in-between Westenhanger and Folkestone Racecourse, should a feasibility study find that those at Dollands Moor were not sufficient (ref: Folkestone Herald, 20th January 1989).
In July 1989, Kent County Council granted permission until 20th of the following month to TransManche Link (TML) — the Anglo-French engineering group selected to build the Channel Tunnel — to transport 12,000 tons of bulk materials from Brett’s quarry on Kennington Road, Conningbrook, Ashford, to Dollands Moor (ref: Kentish Express, 6th July 1989). The materials were required to form a drainage blanket beneath the sidings at the latter (ref: Kentish Express, 15th June 1989). The site proposed for the freight yard at Dollands Moor was first scheduled to be used for Channel Tunnel construction traffic, fulfilling this role until January 1991 (ref: The Railway Magazine, September 1988), and by September 1990 the area had been flattened and two sidings in connection with building work laid. Construction sidings were still in place as of 1st December 1991, but had been removed — bar one through line — by early the following month (ref: Rail Magazine, 22nd January to 4th February 1992).
6th December 1994
The Chunnel-bound Class 373 "Trans Manche Super Train" seen in this north westward view is upon the original main line to the Kent Coast, approaching Continental Junction. At the latter, the line to the Chunnel continued straight on; that to Folkestone and Dover diverged south east. On the advent of "High Speed 1" (formerly the CTRL), this section of line ceased to carry both continental passenger and Kent Coast traffic; thereafter, the latter used a new parallel-running double-track alignment positioned about 30-yards to the south, whilst Eurostar services traversed dedicated tracks flanking either side of Dollands Moor Freight Yard. Continental Junction was abolished in September 2002 and, as far as your author is aware, the section of double track in-between Saltwood East Junction and the eastern end of Dollands Moor no longer sees regular use. © David Glasspool Collection
The yard at Dollands Moor was priced at £26 million and contractor Mowlem had started construction by January 1992 (ref: Rail Magazine, 22nd January to 4th February 1992). As of 1st May of that year, the following were officially recognised as existing for departmental traffic:
- Dollands Moor Locomotive Holding Sidings.
- Dollands Moor (M&EE) Loco Repair Siding.
- Dollands Moor (M&EE) Cripple Siding.
(Ref: Branch Line News No. 682, Branch Line Society, 16th May 1992). Where M&EE = Mechanical & Electrical Engineering.
In late April 1992, Class 86 No. 86208 was hauled to Dollands Moor by Class 47 No. 47973, so the former could test the integrity of the overhead wire equipment at the yard (ref: The Railway Magazine, June 1992). As the picture here attests, No. 86208 was also used for the same task at Cheriton Shuttle Terminal.
On Monday, 31st May 1993, Continental Junction — where the Ashford to Folkestone line diverged from the route to the Channel Tunnel — was brought into use, and Dollands Moor Freight Yard (or, if you like, European Operations Centre) was also introduced to the network (ref: Network SouthEast Signalling Instruction No. 3 SED, British Rail, 1993). The yard at Dollands Moor occupied an area of 40 acres (16.2 hectares) and comprised eight loops of 875-yard (800-metre) length, in-between which were inspection roadways. Additionally, there were dead-end locomotive and wagon holding sidings, and all tracks were equipped with 25 kV AC overhead wires (ref: The Railway Magazine, September 1993). As the accompanying track diagram illustrates, the basic eight loops also sprout further tracks part way down the yard. Based on your author's observations, the southern-most loop is equipped with third rail for its entire length; six of the other loops have third rail only on their western approaches from the junction with the main line. A pair of underpasses and concrete runways were available for use by Customs staff to travel the length of the yard on electric buggies (ref: Rail Magazine, 22nd January to 4th February 1992). Coming under the Railfreight Distribution business sector, the yard's signalling was controlled from the then new Integrated Electronic Control Centre (IECC) at Ashford (ref: The Railway Magazine, September 1993).
10th March 1995
A view over the eastern end of the yard shows European Passenger Services (EPS) Class 92 No. 92021 "Purcell". This was one of seven Class 92 electrics owned by EPS, intended for use on the doomed "Nightstar" project. The first Class 92 to be formally handed over to EPS by Brush Traction was No. 92020 "Milton", the occasion being on 1st February 1995 at Waterloo International. Four and a half years later, on 9th July 1999, "Nightstar" was cancelled. The large sign behind read: "Channel Connection; 1993 - on track for Europe; Railfreight Distribution; Dollands Moor Inspection Facility; A British Railways Board Project". © David Glasspool Collection
On Sunday, 20th June 1993, Class 373 set Nos. 3001 and 3002 were brought into Dollands Moor sidings by Class 73 Nos. 73118/73205 and development locomotive No. 83301. They had been hauled through the Channel Tunnel by SNCF A1A-A1A diesel No. 68041, with SNCF centre-cab diesel No. 66275 assisting at the rear, and left for North Pole Depot the following day (ref: The Railway Magazine, August 1993). The overhead wires between Saltwood Tunnel and Cheriton Shuttle Terminal, including those of the sidings at Dollands Moor, were scheduled to be energised at midnight on Sunday, 3rd October 1993 (ref: Folkestone Herald, 30th September 1993).
The Channel Tunnel opened to lorry traffic on 19th May 1994. On 1st of the following month, car shuttles commenced and the first conventional freight train — loaded with Rover cars bound for Italy — departed Dollands Moor behind SNCF Class 22200 electric No. 22379 (ref: Modern Railways, July 1994). Nine of these electrics were hired by BR for Channel Tunnel work until enough Class 92 locomotives had been commissioned; six were fitted with the tunnel's TVM430 signalling equipment, whilst the remaining three without this were used for double-heading (ref: The Railway Magazine, November 1992). In the meantime, the ceremonial opening of Dollands Moor was marked by the naming of Class 47 No. 47053 Dollands Moor International at the yard on 23rd May 1994 (ref: Modern Railways, July 1994).
On 6th June 1996, the then Secretary of State for Transport announced that the Government had decided that Railfreight Distribution — BR’s Channel Tunnel freight business sector — should be offered for sale as soon as possible (ref: Written Answers (House of Commons), UK Parliament Hansard, 6th June 1996). This formed part of the privatisation process and included the operation of the freight inspection sidings at Dollands Moor. On 28th February 1997, it was announced that the British Railways Board had selected English Welsh and Scottish Railway (EWS) as the preferred purchaser of Railfreight Distribution, with the aim of exchanging contracts shortly afterwards (ref: Written Answers (House of Commons), UK Parliament Hansard, 28th February 1997). However, the sale of the business was delayed as a result of awaiting approval from the European Commission (ref: House of Commons Sitting, UK Parliament Hansard, 9th February 1998). The go-ahead was finally given on 18th November 1997, with EWS taking control of Railfreight Distribution at 00:01 on 22nd of that month (ref: The Railway Magazine, January 1998).
5th May 1995
To reduce the visual impact of the yard, trees were planted along its northern perimeter, as seen in the background of this photograph — there was already plenty of mature woodland to the south. It was common to see rows of coupled Class 92 electrics by this time, such as Nos. 92017 and 92023, owned by Railfreight Distribution and SNCF respectively. Until enough Class 92 locomotives were available, a fleet of nine SNCF Class 22200 electrics were hired by BR for Chunnel work. © David Glasspool Collection
As part of the construction of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link's (CTRL) Section 1 (the Southfleet Junction to Cheriton part of today’s High Speed 1 (HS1)), major infrastructure works took place in the vicinity of Dollands Moor. The yard became flanked by "up" and "down" passenger tracks of the CTRL on its southern and northern sides respectively. On the south side, a viaduct by the name of Grange Alders — which was more or less structurally complete by November 2001 — was built to carry the "up" CTRL track over the existing Kent Coast Main Line, the latter of which was slewed south on a new alignment (ref: The Railway Magazine, February 2002). The then new alignment of the Kent Coast Main Line was brought into use during September 2002 (Branch Line News No. 926, Branch Line Society, 7th December 2002): on Sunday, 8th of that month, Continental Junction was replaced by Saltwood Junction (ref: Railtrack South Zone Signalling Notices Digital Archive, Signalling Record Society).
At Saltwood Cutting, between KM posts 106 and 107 of HS1, the "up" and "down" passenger tracks diverge and, in-between them, a third track is sprouted. The latter is a steeply-graded single track that was laid to connect the western end of Dollands Moor Yard directly with HS1. By 2nd July 2002, this connection was reported as being just a stub of track emerging from Dollands Moor (ref: Branch Line News No. 926, Branch Line Society, 13th July 2002). By 26th of the same month, the steeply-graded link to Dollands Moor comprised an unballasted single-track, but had yet to be connected to the CTRL (as it was then called) — of the latter, a temporary track was in place on the intended course of the "down" passenger line that ran north of the freight yard (ref: Branch Line News No. 926, Branch Line Society, 13th July 2002).
By 16th January 2003, the single-track leading from the western end of Dollands Moor had been connected to "up" and "down" tracks of the CTRL (ref: Branch Line News No. 926, Branch Line Society, 13th July 2002), the point of divergence being named Dollands Moor West Junction. Where this chord joins the yard is called Dollands Moor East Junction and is marked on the accompanying diagram. On 16th September 2003, Section 1 of the CTRL — which included a spur between Fawkham and Southfleet Junctions — was officially opened, although scheduled Eurostar services did not use the then new route until 28th of that month (ref: The Railway Magazine, November 2003).
On 7th November 2007, the European Commission approved the acquisition of EWS by Deutsche Bahn (ref: Railway Gazette International, 15th November 2007). As part of this, Deutsche Bahn took over the operation of Dollands Moor under the brand name DB Schenker.
In the early hours of 27th May 2011, DBS operated its first revenue-earning freight train on HS1. This was the Hams Hall Rail Freight Terminal (eight miles from Birmingham) to Novaro (Northern Italy) intermodal, hauled by Class 92 No. 92009 (ref: RCTS’ The Railway Observer, July 2011). Class 66 No. 66152 was part of the formation, providing power over the then non-electrified section of line linking the Tilbury Loop with HS1 at Ripple Lane, Dagenham (ref: The Railway Magazine, August 2011). By extension, this must have been the first commercial freight train to have used the chord directly linking HS1 with Dollands Moor. The last commercial freights operated along HS1 on 22nd July 2024; these were runs between Ripple Lane and Dollands Moor (and empty returns), transporting parts from Ford’s Dagenham engine plant to the company’s assembly works in Silla, Valencia, Spain (ref: Branch Line News No. 1453, Branch Line Society, 3rd August 2024).
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