Kent lobbies Villiers for improvements Paul Clifton and Pippa Vine


Demands for changes to rail services in Kent have been handed to the Department for Transport. Kent county councillors presented a detailed 15-point ‘rail action plan’ to the transport minister, Theresa Villiers. The plan calls for regular peak services to Charing Cross or Victoria, and to Blackfriars or Cannon Street, from each major town in Kent. The plan states that the service level on the Maidstone East line is ‘completely unacceptable’ and should be addressed ‘above all else’. It says journey times between stations on the


North Kent Line have been greatly increased in the current timetable. The report concludes that journey times should be improved again by a realignment of stopping patterns. It favours development of parkway stations at Thanet for Manston Airport and for the Isle of


ATW improves journey times


Journey times on Arriva Trains Wales routes improved when the new timetable began on 22 May, both within Wales and between Wales and England. Mike Bagshaw, commercial director of Arriva Trains Wales, says: ‘The new timetable means many passengers will benefit from faster and more frequent services. ‘This has been achieved


through making more efficient use of track capacity on the rail network.’ Highlights of the improvements


include: n Faster services between west and South Wales and Manchester, by up to 25 minutes, as well as ‘standard’ services with journey times similar to before, but with some extra station calls;


n Quicker connections from west and South Wales to cities such as Liverpool, Leeds, Sheffield, York and Newcastle, via Crewe or Manchester Piccadilly; and


n Reduction in journey times on most services between South Wales and North Wales, in as well as a new Welsh Assembly Government-funded service offering a journey time from Cardiff to Bangor in three hours 46 minutes.


the Thanet. Council leader Paul Carter said: ‘The rail action plan is about standing up for Kent’s rail users and making sure we get the service we want. It is a unique and persuasive contribution.’ The report aims to influence the shape of the


next Southeastern franchise, which is due in 2014.


Meanwhile, Bullet train services through Kent are to benefit rail travellers from Sandwich and Deal from October, thanks to the support of Kent County Council (KCC). Three high speed morning trains to London


will leave Sandwich at 05:51, 06:17 and 06:47, calling at Deal five minutes later and slashing journey times to London from around 109 minutes to 90 minutes. Trains will return from St Pancras at 17:40 and 18:40.


The Southeastern services will add to


the existing commuter services from Kent to London, which use Hitachi’s high speed Javelin


trains, running on HS1. The new service, to cost around £151,000, was recommended to government ministers by the Sandwich Economic Development Task Force. It aims to boost business confidence and


support new employment opportunities in the area, at the same time as Pfizer withdraws from its Sandwich site. Costs are expected to reduce as service take-up increases. KCC is also lobbying the Department for Transport for an exemption to the current franchise agreement, which will make further savings on the cost. Dover and Deal MP Charlie Elphicke said: ‘I


have campaigned hard for this rail upgrade and worked closely with KCC. I am delighted that high speed trains will now stop at Sandwich and Deal. KCC has done a great job in cracking this deal which has long been called for by local residents and will be a real boost for local business.’


Manchester councillors concerned about rolling stock delays n


A new Labour administration is to take over at Transport


for Greater Manchester and will be pressing the government hard for new rolling stock, after sweeping back to power in local elections. They arrive back in power with


big improvements to the local rail network already under way – but lingering worries over rolling stock. Electric trains due to be cascaded


to Northern from Thameslink now look to be behind schedule because of delays in procuring new Thameslink rolling stock. Current TfGM chairman Councillor Keith Whitmore said: ‘Electrification is going ahead very strongly.


‘The concern is that we are


going to see all this done and put the infrastructure in and then there will be no rolling stock. ‘There is a concern about Thameslink and the timescale, which seems to be slipping further. It really would be a disaster in my view to finish all these works and end up having to run diesels under the wire.’


One solution would be an electrification ‘go-slow’ to align the two events. But Whitmore insisted: ‘Once works start they really need to get on with a vengeance. Doing it


PAGE 6 JUNE 2011


piecemeal just interferes with the whole operation. Possessions are one of the worst scenarios.’ He added: ‘When we see [Philip] Hammond again soon, we will be


pushing him on this issue because it will not be good to have first-class electrification and have some sort of experimental thing trundling up and down.’


If you’ve got it flaunt it, so the saying goes – and that’s exactly what C2C did after hearing it had reached the top of the national punctuality table for the third successive month. The hat-trick was marked with a photo call at London Fenchurch Street in May. The start of the May timetable has seen C2C increase services and lengthen trains, adding 6,000 extra seats each weekday.


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