was electrified at the same time as the main line during the "Kent Coast Electrification – Stage 2" in June 1961, and passenger trains were formed of electric multiple units. Freight services were withdrawn on 17 August 1968. A transparent footbridge was built over the station in 1980, to avoid having to cross an electrified line. In 1994, the opening of the nearby Channel Tunnel led to the majority of ferry operators moving to other ports in the South East, with the result that only two services per day were arriving at Folkestone Harbour, to connect with the Hoverspeed SeaCat services. When these were moved to Ramsgate, the station closed to cross-channel rail traffic in 2001. Shortly afterwards, the line was reduced to single track operation. In 2003, a report showed that the line over the viaduct was rusty and the station as "deserted and decrepit". On 20 May 2004, the Venice-Simplon Orient Express (VSOE) began two scheduled services per week from Victoria to Paris via Ashford and Folkestone Harbour, reversing at Folkestone Junction. These services lasted until 2008. The swing bridge and viaduct over the harbour was Grade II listed in January 2012. Its listing by Historic England refers to "group" value with the harbour's east pier and lighthouse, which are also Grade II listed. Closure In 2006, 1,000 new houses and apartments were planned around Folkestone Harbour, but they could not be practically served by the branch line. Network Rail decided that it could not justify maintaining the route, so it began the process to close the station permanently, turning the viaduct into a pedestrian walkway. The closure was objected to by the freight carrier DB Schenker, the Department for Transport (DfT) and Southeastern. During 2008, the VSOE still used Folkestone Harbour with its last train travelling on 13 November. A small number of trains visited the branch thereafter; the final one was a steam-hauled rail tour by a BR Standard Class 7 70013 Oliver Cromwell from Victoria on 14 March 2009. As part of the redevelopment proposals, Network Rail planned to demolish the line once it had been closed. A group named the Remembrance Line Association formed, opposing this action with the hope that the line could be turned into a heritage railway and the station into a museum. The group included future UK Independence Party leader Henry Bolton. On 21 December 2008, the Remembrance Line Association