‘No automatic train franchise renewal’
ALOCALMPwants the Transport Secretary to re-open bids for the Kent train franchise held by Southeastern. Sir John Stanley (Tonbridge and Malling)
told Transport Secretary Philip Hammond: "I urge that Southeastern should not be granted an automatic two-year extension of its franchise on the nod from yourself. "Instead, before you take any such deci-
sion, you should invite alternative bids from other train operating companies to see whether you can get a better deal on rail services, particularly on the Maidstone East
line, and on fares, than is currently being provided by Southeastern. "As far as I am concerned, more of the
same for two more years just won't do." Sir John said he had forwarded numerous complaints to the Department of Transport about Southeastern’s "profoundly disap- pointing" performance. In a strongly worded letter, he criticised
the firm for axeing direct City services and said it had failed to provide an all-weather service and overseen an "unacceptable" level of train cancellations.
ANOTHER soldier from Maidstone has deployed to Afghanistan for the second time where he is working alongside members of the Afghan Na- tional Security Forces. Sgt George McCafferty (36)
is based in Helmand province, with other mem- bers of his unit, the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, 5th Battalion The Royal Regi- ment of Scotland. They are primarily there to
train and mentor the Afghan National Police and bring the force up to a sufficiently high standard to take over security responsibilities currently per- formed by British and NATO troops. George’s specific role is as a member of a Police Ad- visory Team in the Babaji dis- trict.
“This is a challenging
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"Notwithstanding all this, Southeastern
have imposed extortionate fare increases on my constituents," he added. Transport minister Theresa Villiers had
told Sir John that a public consultation would not be held on the issue. "The terms of the franchise agreed by the previous administration require the Secre- tary of State to offer an additional two years to Southeastern, at the price agreed in 2005, if it passes the continuation review," she added.
Meanwhile, Maidstone MP Helen Grant George has second spell in Afghanistan
role,” he admitted. “I’ve had to adapt to this and sometimes I’m in situations I never thought I would find myself in! But the hard work is pay- ing off and it’s starting to look like the ANP will be able to do this job for themselves in the future. Crucially, the enemy don’t seem to have the same spirit they used to.” George joined the Army in
1993 and has been on previ- ous operational tours in Northern Ireland and Kosovo, as well as a previous deploy- ment to Afghanistan. He grew up living all over
the world as his father, George, was also in the Ar- gylls. George now lives in Maidstone with his fiancée Joanna, his one-month-old daughter Georgina and his daughter Shannon (14).
told Mrs Villiers that her con- stituents are suffering from “ap- palling service”. She said she had received a
huge number of letters and emails about delays, over- crowding, wrong information on websites, lack of toilets, dirty rolling stock and lack of a City service. She also said the rise in fares
was “exorbitant” and called for urgent action. But, in sharp contrast, a sur-
vey by rail watchdog Passenger Focus showed that 80% of Southeastern customers are sat- isfied with the service, though it was still the third lowest overall satisfaction rating na- tionwide.
Dental plan ANNALEE Longford Ltd has applied to convert a dental lab- oratory into a dental practice at 25 Postley Road, Maidstone
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