The line to Folkestone Harbour from Folkestone Junction was opened by the South Eastern Railway on January 1, 1849, as part of a project to develop the port. It was 1.06 miles long and involved a reversal in the sidings at Folkestone Junction. As it developed and became important for cross-Channel traffic, the line became double track and the sidings west of Martello Tunnel could hold the 14-coach boat trains from Victoria, which in the 1970s comprised three 4CEP electric units and a motor luggage van, plus, before they were withdrawn, a trailer luggage van, making 13 or 14 coaches.
The port was used as an alternative to Dover in the days when rail travel to Europe by
