Editing Kent (section)

==Transport==
{{Main|Transport in Kent}}

===Roads===
[[File:MedwayM2BridgeCloud0169.JPG|thumb|right| The [[M2 motorway (Great Britain)|M2]] and [[High Speed 1]] crossing the [[Medway Valley]], south of [[Rochester, Kent|Rochester]]]]

With the Roman invasion, a road network was constructed to connect London to the Channel ports of Dover, [[Lympne]] and Richborough. The London–Dover road was [[Watling Street]]. These roads are now approximately the A2, B2068, A257, and the A28. The [[A2 road (Great Britain)|A2]] runs through Dartford (A207), Gravesend, Rochester, Canterbury, and Dover; the A20 through [[Eltham]], Wrotham, Maidstone, [[Charing]], Ashford. [[Hythe, Kent|Hythe]], Folkestone and Dover; the [[A21 road (England)|A21]] around Sevenoaks, Tonbridge, Tunbridge Wells and on to Hastings in East Sussex.<ref name=KHI/>

In the 1960s, two motorways were built; the [[M2 motorway (Great Britain)|M2]] from [[Medway]] to Faversham, and the [[M20 motorway|M20]] from [[Swanley]] to Folkestone. Part of the [[M25 motorway|M25]] runs through Kent, from Westerham to the [[Dartford Crossing]]. The [[M26 motorway]], built in 1980, provides a short link between the M25 at [[Sevenoaks]] and the M20 near [[Wrotham]]. Kent currently has more motorways by distance than any other county in the UK, with sections of the M2, M20, M25 and M26 totalling {{convert|173|km|mi|abbr=on}} within the extents of the ceremonial county.{{citation needed|date=March 2025}}

In the run-up to [[Brexit|Britain leaving the European Union]], Government minister [[Michael Gove]] confirmed that the Government intended to impose a ''de facto'' border between Kent and the rest of England for freight lorries,<ref>{{cite news |last=McConnell |first=Ed |url=https://www.kentonline.co.uk/kent/news/border-to-be-set-up-inside-kent-could-see-7-000-lorry-queues-234290/ |title=Worst case post-Brexit lorry havoc scenario for Kent revealed by Michael Gove to House of Commons |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200927143442/https://www.kentonline.co.uk/kent/news/border-to-be-set-up-inside-kent-could-see-7-000-lorry-queues-234290/ |archive-date=27 September 2020 |website=kentonline.co.uk |date=3 September 2020 |access-date=7 February 2021}}</ref> in order to deal with expected lorry queues of 7,000 or more<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-54260470 |title=Brexit: Lorry drivers will need a permit to enter Kent after transition period |work=BBC News |date=23 September 2020 |access-date=7 January 2021 |archive-date=4 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210104154956/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-54260470 |url-status=live }}</ref> at Folkestone, Dover and other ports. [[Heavy goods vehicle]] operators need to apply for a 24-hour Kent Access Permit (KAP) to take a vehicle of 7.5 tonnes or more into Kent if their intention is to cross to the EU via Dover or the [[Eurotunnel]].<ref>{{cite web |work=GOV.UK |url=https://www.gov.uk/check-hgv-border |title=Check an HGV is ready to cross the border (Kent Access Permit) |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210130144042/https://www.gov.uk/check-hgv-border |archive-date=30 January 2021 |access-date=7 February 2021 |date=31 December 2020}}</ref>

===Water===
The medieval [[Cinque Ports]], except for the [[Port of Dover]], have all now silted up. The Medway Estuary has been an important port and naval base for 500 years. The River Medway is tidal up to [[Allington, Kent|Allington]] and navigable up to Tonbridge. Kent's two canals are the [[Royal Military Canal]] between Hythe and Rye, which still exists, and the Thames and Medway Canal between Strood and Gravesend. Built-in 1824, it was purchased in 1846 by the railways, which partially backfilled it.<ref name=KHI/> Container ports are at [[Ramsgate]] and [[Thamesport]]. Following the closures across the lower Medway, and the Swale to the [[Isle of Sheppey]], during the 20th century, the [[Woolwich Ferry]] is the only domestic ferry that runs in the broadest definition of the county.

===Railways===
[[File:StroodCTRL2.JPG|thumb|right|A {{convert|300|km/h|mph|0|abbr=on}} [[Eurostar]] train at km&nbsp;48 (mile&nbsp;30) on [[High Speed 1]], near [[Strood]]]]
The earliest locomotive-driven passenger-carrying railway in Britain was the [[Canterbury & Whitstable Railway]] which opened in 1830.<ref>{{cite web |title=The lost railway |author=Oppitz, Leslie |publisher = BBC | url = http://www.bbc.co.uk/kent/content/articles/2008/05/27/history_lost_railway_feature.shtml |access-date=1 August 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081206053424/http://www.bbc.co.uk/kent/content/articles/2008/05/27/history_lost_railway_feature.shtml |archive-date=6 December 2008 |url-status=live }}</ref> This and the [[London & Greenwich Railway]] later merged into [[South Eastern Railway (England)|South Eastern Railway]] (SER).<ref name=potted>{{cite web |title=History of the South Eastern & Chatham Railway |publisher=The South Eastern & Chatham Railway Society |url=http://www.southeasternandchathamrailway.org.uk/webpages/History.htm |access-date=22 April 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061101091806/http://www.southeasternandchathamrailway.org.uk/webpages/History.htm |archive-date=1 November 2006}}</ref>
By the 1850s, SER's networks had expanded to Ashford, Ramsgate, Canterbury, Tunbridge Wells, and the Medway towns. SER's major London termini were [[London Bridge railway station|London Bridge]], [[Charing Cross railway station|Charing Cross]], and [[Cannon Street railway station|Cannon Street]]. Kent also had a second major railway, the [[London, Chatham & Dover Railway]]. Originally the [[East Kent Railway]] in 1858, it linked the northeast Kent coast with London terminals at [[London Victoria railway station|Victoria]] and [[Blackfriars railway station|Blackfriars]].

The two companies merged in 1899, forming the [[South Eastern & Chatham Railway]], further amalgamated with other railways by the [[Railways Act 1921]] to form the [[Southern Railway (England)|Southern Railway]].<ref name=potted/> Britain's railways were nationalised in 1948, forming [[British Rail]]ways. The railways were privatised in 1996 and most Kent passenger services were [[franchising|franchised]] to [[Connex South Eastern]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Failed rail franchise 'needed time' |publisher=BBC |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/3268719.stm |date=13 November 2003 |access-date=13 May 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040702054650/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/3268719.stm |archive-date=2 July 2004 |url-status=live }}</ref> Following financial difficulties, Connex lost the franchise and was replaced by [[South Eastern Trains]] and after [[Southeastern (train operating company)|Southeastern]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Rail workers vote to hold strikes |publisher=BBC |url =http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/4905966.stm |date=13 April 2006 |access-date=13 May 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060414221334/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/4905966.stm |archive-date=14 April 2006 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The [[Channel Tunnel]] was completed in 1994 and [[High Speed 1]] in November 2007 with a London terminus at [[St Pancras railway station|St Pancras]]. A new station, [[Ebbsfleet International railway station|Ebbsfleet International]], opened between [[Dartford]] and [[Gravesend, Kent|Gravesend]], serving northern Kent.<ref>{{cite news |title=New station means Eurostar change |publisher=BBC |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/kent/5337586.stm |date=12 September 2006 |access-date=22 April 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070827132939/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/kent/5337586.stm |archive-date=27 August 2007 |url-status=live }}</ref> The high speed lines will be utilised to provide a faster train service to coastal towns like [[Ramsgate]] and [[Folkestone]]. This station is in addition to the existing station at [[Ashford International railway station|Ashford International]], which has suffered a massive cut in service as a result.

[[File:P9300406.JPG|thumb|left|[[Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway]]]]
In addition to the "main line" railways, there are several light, heritage, and industrial railways in Kent. There are three heritage, standard gauge railways; [[Spa Valley Railway]] near Tunbridge Wells on the old Tunbridge Wells West branch, [[East Kent Railway (heritage)|East Kent Railway]] on the old East Kent coalfield area and the [[Kent & East Sussex Railway]] on the Weald around Tenterden. In addition, there is the {{convert|15|in|mm|adj=on}} gauge, [[Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway]] on the southeast Kent coast along the Dungeness peninsula. Finally, there is the {{convert|2|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}}, industrial [[Sittingbourne & Kemsley Light Railway]], previously the Bowaters Paper Railway.

===Air===
[[Charter flight]]s are provided by [[Lydd Airport]] at [[Lydd]].

In 2002, it was revealed that the government was considering building a new four-runway airport on the marshland near the village of [[Cliffe, Kent|Cliffe]] on [[Hoo Peninsula]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Airport plan threatens Dickens' legacy |publisher=BBC |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2093415.stm |date=12 September 2006 |access-date=20 June 2007 |first=Matthew |last=Davis |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060529201422/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2093415.stm |archive-date=29 May 2006 |url-status=live }}</ref> This plan was dropped in 2003 following protests by cultural and environmental groups.<ref>{{cite news |title=Saving nature |work=The Times |location=London |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/related_features/love_nature/article3625154.ece |date=23 March 2008 |access-date=6 September 2009 |first=Advertisement |last=Feature |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100529150444/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/related_features/love_nature/article3625154.ece |archive-date=29 May 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref> However further plans for a [[Thames Estuary Airport]] on the Kent coast have subsequently emerged, including the [[Thames Hub Airport]], again sited on the [[Isle of Grain]] and designed by [[Lord Foster]],<ref>{{cite news |author=Gwyn Topham and Nicholas Watt |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2012/jan/18/boris-island-thames-estuary-airport-grounded |title='Boris Island' airport plan grounded over Johnson's briefing to Telegraph |work=The Guardian |location=London |access-date=19 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714135731/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2012/jan/18/boris-island-thames-estuary-airport-grounded |archive-date=14 July 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="teleairport">{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travelnews/9111714/Nature-blow-to-plans-for-Boris-Island.html |title=Nature blow to plans for "Boris Island" |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=London |access-date=19 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141028172248/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travelnews/9111714/Nature-blow-to-plans-for-Boris-Island.html |archive-date=28 October 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref> and the London Britannia Airport plan, colloquially known as "[[Boris Island]]" due to its being championed by the former [[Mayor of London]] [[Boris Johnson]], which would see a six runway airport built on an artificial island to be towards the [[Shivering Sands Army Fort|Shivering Sands]] area, north-east of [[Whitstable]].<ref name="teleairport" /><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-24895965 |title='Boris Island' London Airport designs unveiled |work=BBC News |date=11 November 2013 |access-date=19 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140709113014/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-24895965 |archive-date=9 July 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref>
Both of these options were dropped in 2014 in favour of expansion at either Gatwick or Heathrow Airport, the latter finally being the chosen option following Theresa May's installation as Prime Minister in summer 2016.

[[Manston Airport]], located near the village of [[Manston, Kent|Manston]] in the [[Thanet District|Thanet district]], was a former [[Royal Air Force|RAF]] facility that also handled some civilian flights. It closed in 2014.<ref>{{Cite news |date=6 May 2014 |title=Threatened airport to shut next week |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-kent-27294532 |access-date=6 July 2020 |archive-date=27 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727123741/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-kent-27294532 |url-status=live }}</ref>