(For other railways with similar names, see East Kent Railways (disambiguation).) The East Kent Railway (EKR) was an early railway operating between Strood and the town of Faversham in Kent England, during 1858 and 1859. In the latter year it changed its name to the London, Chatham and Dover Railway to reflect its ambitions to build a rival line from London to Dover via Chatham and Canterbury. The line as far as Canterbury was opened in 1860 and the extension to Dover Priory railway station 22 July 1861. The route to Victoria station, London, via the Mid-Kent line and the West End of London and Crystal Palace Railway opened on 1 November 1861.