Maidstone West railway station ran on a bridge across the River Medway to a goods station at Tovil Goods () until 3 October 1977, from which point the branch line closed completely. The typical off-peak service from the station is one train per hour to Paddock Wood and , and two trains an hour to Strood. Connections to London are available from any of these three stations. Four trains each way per day using Class 395 "Javelin" units operate between Maidstone West and via and . Maidstone West railway station Maidstone West railway station is one of three railway stations which serve the town
Maidstone the Hermitage Millennium Amphitheatre. Maidstone is mentioned several times in Ian Fleming's 1955 James Bond novel, "Moonraker". Villain Hugo Drax passes through King Street and Gabriels Hill and later stops at the Thomas Wyatt Hotel. Writer Jack London recounts his visit to Maidstone in his 1903 book "The People of the Abyss". Whilst living in the slums of London in the summer of 1902, he heads to Maidstone in search of hop-picking work up the London Road. He finds lodgings with a "Sea Wife" living in the poor quarter of Maidstone, and persuades her and her husband to let him