English: Swale - 'one of the least used stations in England'

The line was opened on 19th July 1860 by the Sittingbourne & Sheerness Railway (S&SR), a nominally independent company which had powers to construct a branch line from Sittingbourne across the Swale to a terminus near the entrance of Sheerness Dockyard. The line was worked from the outset by the London, Chatham & Dover Railway which absorbed the S&SR in 1876.

Swale station was opened in 1913 as a staff halt, called Kings Ferry Bridge Halt. The name was changed to Swale Halt in 1929. With the building of the new Kingsferry Bridge in 1960, a new station was constructed, opening in April 1960. As British Rail did away with 'Halt' in the names of any stations it is now just Swale. Annual rail passenger usage in 2007/08 was 2,756 which averages at between seven and eight passengers a day. This is one of the lowest figures in England but as there are no houses in sight this is not altogether surprising. However, there is a small pull in for cars and two bus stops, and in the half hour I was here at mid afternoon on a weekday, two passengers alighted from trains and one passenger got on a train.

In the distance here is the new Kingsferry Bridge, opened in 1960, which can lift the road and railway out of the way of passing ships. It is one of only two remaining in the world of this design. The new Sheppey Crossing opened in 2006 to give a more reliable link to Sheppey as the 1960 bridge had on occasions been damaged by ships colliding with it. When this happened the island was completely cut off.