Roadways Watling Street (the
A2), the Roman road between the
Port of Dover on the
English Channel and London, runs through Medway. This route became particularly congested and led to the building of the
M2 to bypass the Medway Towns to the south in the 1960s and was subsequently widened extensively at the turn of the 21st century. The A2 through the Medway Towns varies from single carriageway to dual carriageway to "one way" systems. In places it deviates from the original route of
Watling Street. The A2 leaves the main route (which bypasses Medway by either the Northern Relief Road — The
A289 or the M2) at the Three Crutches junction. The road descends through Strood towards the river. During the descent, the road to Gravesend, the A226 joins. In
Strood the High Street is bypassed by the one-way system to the north and south encircling the High Street. The A2 crosses the Medway via two bridges in a dual carriageway (see
Rochester Bridge). One bridge is Victorian and in the position of the original Roman bridge. The second bridge is more recent and build upon the piers of the original
London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR) main line railway bridge (the
Chatham Main Line uses the
South Eastern Railway's branch line's bridge). In Rochester the High street is bypassed to the north by the dualled Corporation Street. The A2 then crosses the high street, climbs Star Hill and follows New road by Fort Pitt / Jackson's Field to bypass Chatham to the south (by the Station, via a flyover known as New Cut). As it approaches Luton it is a dual carriageway for a short stretch, where a major junction lies with the railway (Chatham Main line) passes overhead — this is known as Luton Arches. It then climbs Chatham Hill (to Gillingham) now has a separate bus lane. The A2 / Watling street traditionally bypasses central
Gillingham which lies to the North. From the main road to
Gillingham (Canterbury Street), the A2 is dual carriageway. Here the Northern Relief Road (A289) rejoins at the Will Adams roundabout. This is swiftly followed by the Bowater roundabout where the A278 Hoath Way leads to the M2 to the South, this is so named and distinctive because of the former paper mill Bowaters at this location that left a giant water tower. A large
Tesco supermarket currently inhabits the site. As the road progresses into Rainham it becomes single carriageway again. Connecting Medway with neighbouring
Gravesend is the
A226. This leaves the A2 on the hill above Strood. It is a single carriageway A road. . Both are seen climbing up the Nashenden Valley, towards
Bluebell Hill. The
A228 runs along the west bank of the Medway, through Strood. Intersecting the M2 at its second junction, crossing the A2 through the centre of Strood and meeting (and encompassing for a short stretch) the Northern Relief Road (A289). The road then carries on to the
Isle of Grain. Throughout its passage through Strood it is single carriageway, but the stretches to the North are dualled partially toward Grain. The road to Grain was an accident black spot, this and increased traffic from the major port of
Thamesport which is located to the north-west along the Medway Estuary prompted the construction of a new
dual carriageway. The A228 Main Road to Ropers Lane project was provisionally approved by the government in December 2001. Design work started in March 2000 and in February 2004, contractors got under way with moving services such as water, gas and fuel pipes. This work was vital, as the pipes actually supply the Hoo Peninsula and the power station at Grain. The largest water main that was moved was in diameter and the largest gas main . The road cost £19 million and is approximately long. The
A229 starts from the A2 at the junction at the top of Star Hill alongside Jackson's Field / Fort Pitt, it follows City Way to the South where at Fort Horstead /
Rochester Airport / Mid Kent College it meets the branch from Chatham (the
A230 which starts at
Chatham Station / New Cut). From here it continues south, becoming dual carriageway and meeting the M2 at its third junction, which also provides access with
Walderslade. This road then proceeds down Blue Bell Hill (from the summit of the North Downs) to the county town of Maidstone and the
M20. The
A278 Hoath Way links the A2 at Gillingham to its southern suburbs (Hempstead, Wigmore and Parkwood) to the M2's fourth junction. It is dual carriageway throughout. The
A289 was built in the 1990s as the Medway Towns Northern Relief Road. Constructed in three stages, firstly it bypasses Strood with a dual carriageway from Three Crutches (M2 J1) to the A226 and the A228 (The Wainscott Northern Bypass). It then joins the A228 (as The Wainscott Eastern Bypass) — these two parts are dualled. A dualled link road leads to the
Medway Tunnel to the
Chatham Dockyard. Here it meets Dock Road (
A231) that leads to Chatham. The A289 continues between northern Gillingham and the river, and then turns southwards through Gillingham Golf Course to rejoin the A2 at the Will Adams roundabout. The
A2045 is the A289's counterpart, however it is largely unbuilt. The Medway Towns Southern Relief Road was proposed to link the (then) new developments to the south of Chatham (Walderslade) and Gillingham (Hempstead,
Wigmore and Parkwood) with M2's J3 and the A229 to the east and the M2's J4 and
A278 in the west. A single carriageway road was built south of Walderslade to access the Walderslade Woods and Lordswood developments. At the other end a small section was built to access the Hempstead development and its shopping centre. However, the key middle stretch was left unbuilt, a link road to central Chatham via Luton, the B2156 North Dane Way was also left incomplete with no road to link to. The removal of Medway from Kent (which the incomplete section would lay in) and the recent widening of M2 leaves the proposed project with little chance of completion in the foreseeable future.
Buses The majority of local bus routes throughout Medway are centred upon the newly opened
Waterfront bus station (replacing
Pentagon bus station) in Chatham. Most bus routes are run by
Arriva Southern Counties, which took over the locally owned
Maidstone & District bus company in the 1990s. Other local bus companies including Nu-Venture provide certain services, some under contract to the local authority. Buses are numbered between 100 and 199 for local services, with buses numbered in the 700s to show
Kent County Council subsidised services including those to
Walderslade and
Bluewater Shopping Centre, and in the 600s for school bus services. Bus links to London and other parts of the south east can be accessed via Bluewater Shopping Centre, near
Greenhithe, which has extensive bus routes to London.
Coaches Commuter coaches run from various parts of Medway to a selection of London destinations using the M2/A2. Operating companies include
The Kings Ferry and
Chalkwell Coaches.
National Express runs regular services from
Hempstead Valley Shopping Centre,
Chatham Waterfront bus station, and Chatham Maritime Universities to
Gatwick Airport.
Railways The Medway Council area has seven railway stations: •
Strood Station •
Rochester Station •
Chatham Station •
Gillingham Station •
Rainham Station •
Halling Station •
Cuxton Station It is served by the
Medway Valley line, the
North Kent line and the
Chatham Main Line. The owners of the
Thames and Medway Canal tunnel that linked Medway (specifically Strood) with Gravesend turned half their canal into a railway bringing the first rails to Medway. They were soon absorbed by the
South Eastern Railway whose
North Kent line linked Strood with Gravesend, Dartford, and then
London Bridge. Subsequently, SER extended their branch from their
main line to Maidstone to Strood — the
Medway Valley line. Stations were built on the Medway Valley line for the villages of
Cuxton and
Halling. A rival company, the
London, Chatham and Dover Railway, built a railway between Chatham and East Kent. Unable to secure a connection and running rights over the SER's North Kent line they built their own main line to Bromley where they connected with the
West End of London & Crystal Palace Railway to gain access to
London Victoria. This railway became known as the
Chatham Main Line. It had stations at which was actually in Strood, Chatham and New Brompton which was renamed Gillingham. The line was extended through Rainham to the Kent Coast (Thanet and Dover). In reaction to this strong rival the SER built a small branch alongside the LCDR over the Medway on a parallel bridge to
a station in Rochester and a terminus called which was actually just outside Chatham. The strenuous competition between the two companies resulted in their merger into the
South Eastern and Chatham Railway in 1899. Subsequent rationalisation saw the closure of the LCDR's station in Strood and the SER's branch to Rochester and Chatham (although the bridge was retained and is used to this day). Post World War I saw the big four grouping and the SECR was merged into
Southern in 1923. This led to
electrification of suburban services (750 V DC third rail) which by World War II had seen electric traction reach Gillingham on the Chatham Main Line and Maidstone West (via Strood and the North Kent Line) on the Medway Valley line. Post war (1948) saw nationalisation into
British Rail, which under its 1955 modernisation part saw the completion of Southern's electrification efforts in Kent as a key target. Thus Rainham was reached as part of this programme. It also saw the extension of platforms on the Chatham Main Line to 12 cars, leading to the closure of two of Chatham's four platforms. Rochester retained four platforms, while Strood and Gillingham kept three. Rainham had only two platforms until 2017 when an additional bay was created to facilitate new trains on through services to destinations north of London. These are scheduled to commence in May 2018. In December 2015, a new Rochester station opened replacing the original one. It has three platforms and can handle 12-car trains. Extensive goods yards existed at Strood, Rochester and Gillingham. Strood had engine sheds, while Gillingham still has carriage depots. A freight branch to Chatham Dockyard also exists. The network within the dockyard has been extensively curtailed since the dockyard's closure. Rail services generally consist of North Kent Line services (to London Bridge and beyond —
Charing Cross and
Cannon Street) starting from Gillingham. The Medway Valley line receives a shuttle service up and down terminating at Strood for transfers to the North Kent Line, although some services run through to
Tonbridge and even
Gatwick. The main services are on the Chatham Main line, with stopper services from Faversham (i.e. they stop at local stations, running fast from Bromley) and fast services from Kent Coast (i.e. they run fast from Medway to London). Services are currently operated by
Southeastern. The
High Speed 1 line passes through the Medway Towns area, running parallel to the M2/A2 Trunk road. The completion of High Speed 1 has seen domestic services operating on the line, which includes a stopping service starting at
Faversham running to
Strood and
Gravesend before joining the High Speed line at
Ebbsfleet. From there it travels at high speed to
Stratford International and
St Pancras International, where connections can now be made with mainline trains to the north of England. The rail service is extensively used by the residents of Medway to commute into London.
Waterways Although it is extensively used for leisure, the River Medway is not used for local transport purposes; however, cargo ships operated by Union Transport of Bromley still sail to the cement works to the south at Halling/Cuxton. Part of the closed
Royal Navy base is now used as a cargo port and has Ro/Ro facilities; cargo that comes in ranges from paper pulp to dredged material, but this traffic only uses one of the three main basins. There is also a ship repair facility located in the basin.
Thamesport, which is located on the edge of the Medway Estuary on the
Isle of Grain, handles the shipping of containers and fossil fuels.
Kingsnorth Power Station has coal shipped in from Dunkirk. Scotline also operates a fleet of coasters for the import of wood, and has a wharf on the River Medway. There is also a wharf on the river called Eurowharf, which deals with dredged material. In addition, there was a shipping company based on the river, formerly known as Lapthorn Shipping but then as Coastal Bulk Shipping, but it ceased trading at the end of 2008.
Air There are two small airports. The first,
Rochester Airport, is a "grass strip" used for leisure purposes. Stoke Airfield near Grain is used by microlights and light aircraft. For scheduled air travel, Medway residents can use Kent's
Lydd Airport (or
Manston Airport until its 2014 closure), but these lack extensive passenger facilities or routes; thus, the main London airports are used instead in most cases. == Notable people ==