Having demonstrated that there is just enough room to squeeze two tracks and their associated platforms through the centre of Tunbridge Wells, it is time to show how the new and the old fit together. It will be clear that the above diagram is illustrative only and is not to scale.
Due to the problems of congestion in this area, my proposal includes the construction of an entirely new stretch of double track line immediately south of the enlarged station running to a point beyond the existing Strawberry Hill tunnel. This second parallel tunnel is necessary due to the singling of the original one during the mid-1980s electrification works. This part is far from set in stone and amendments to the plan to reduce its complexity towards its south end might be worthwhile (the second tunnel at Strawberry Hill, for example, might be reduced to a single track Hastings-bound line shared between trains from London and from Maidstone with all north-bound services using the existing tunnel). In either case, the cuttings at the site of Grove Hill Junction will need to be partially replaced with retaining walls. The simpler option is illustrated below.
On the more complex plan, at Point X the turnback siding installed for terminating trains from London is removed and replaced by the new alignment. I have suggested that here the old Hastings line and new route are linked together, thus eliminating the problem of the single track stretch. Services from London can then be routinely terminated further down the line, perhaps at Wadhurst. Alternatively, the old alignment through Strawberry Hill tunnel could itself be used to give access to new carriage sidings to the south of Hawkenbury. On either plan it may eventually be possible to provide a station south of the Strawberry Hill tunnels for the ever-growing population of the southern suburbs of Tunbridge Wells and sufficient land should be safeguarded for this.
The proposal also allows for the restoration of services between the existing Tunbridge Wells – London route and the former West railway station. However it may be that a future reinstatement of this line would fit better with the proposed cross-country services to Maidstone, Medway and Gravesend. This might require a slightly different alignment than the previous route though at present only small buildings (in railway use) occupy the site.
Heart Of Kent Line 