News
Newtrain boost for commuters
THE complaints of commuters using morning peak Southeastern services from West Malling ap- pear to have been heard. Southeastern has announced 68 carriages are to be added to the busiest services leaving Maidstone East from mid-September. The extra carriages – transferred
from Thameslink and Southern services - will provide an extra 5,000 seats for commuters travel- ling into London, addressing long- standing overcrowding issues. The transfer, which should be complete by November, was ap- proved by the Department for Transport, which has been working with Southeastern and Govia Thameslink Railway. It will bring more air condi- tioned, modern carriages into serv- ice on the Maidstone East line, with some peak-time trains doubling in length. Roger Johnson, from the Rail
Travellers’ Association, says over- crowding on the Maidstone East line has for years seen rail passen- gers heading for other mainline sta- tions at Paddock Wood and
Sevenoaks. “This in turn leads to overcrowding on those peak serv- ices and we have been campaign- ing for many years for a major upgrade for the Maidstone line,” he said. He says the transfer of 10-year-
old stock to replace the present age- ing and unreliable trains is good news - and comes ahead of a bigger upgrade of the service in December 2018. Mr Johnson said: “This will pro-
vide a small but welcome increase in capacity and a more comfortable environment for passengers. “The second, more dramatic up-
grade, will come in 12 months’ time when the existing service will be supplemented with an all-day half hourly service between Maidstone East via London Bridge and Kings Cross/St Pancras to Cambridge.” Tonbridge & Malling MP Tom
Tugendhat said: “For years, pas- sengers have suffered from over- crowded services inWest Kent and I’ve campaigned on this for a long time. I’m pleased that the govern- ment has allowed Southeastern to secure these carriages.”
downsmail.co.uk Carol’s crochet poppy tribute
MORE than 2,000 handmade poppies have been handed in as part of a challenge to produce amagical carpet of remembrance. However, Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council, which launched the appeal, saymanymore are needed. It hopes the public will rally to the cause and crochet poppies for the final collection on October 23. The poppy carpet will be unveiled on Friday, October 27, at Tonbridge Castle at the start of this year’s Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal. Knitted or crocheted poppies can be any size and follow any pattern, and can be handed in at Larkfield Library, in Martin Square and Snodland orWest Malling libraries in the High Street. Carol King (pictured), who lives near Blue Bell Hill, has made hundreds of poppies for the display. She said: “It has been a pleasure to be involved. It doesn’t take long to crotchet each one and I’m glad to be supporting Royal British Legion in this way. I can’t wait to see the final display!”
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