On Thursday June 15 the Marsh Link Action Group (MLAG) invited Paul Best from Network Rail to the Town Hall to present their Kent Area Route Study, which is currently out for consultation.
The sprawling consultation document covers rail networks across the UK but from MLAG’s point of view, the main item of interest in the study relates to the proposals for the High Speed train service from St Pancras to Ashford and its extension onto Rye, Hastings and Bexhill.
Overall the presentation was very positive with Paul Best saying the High Speed was 'doable' but it needs strong local support from people living and working in Rye.
As you may remember, our newly re-elected MP Amber Rudd committed herself to the High Speed extension earlier in the year saying, 'Currently it takes far too long to travel along the coast and to make journeys to London. To change this I have been campaigning for improvements to the Marsh Link and for high speed services from London to Hastings, Rye and onto Bexhill.'
To her credit, Amber Rudd has convened a High Speed Rail Working Group and as we heard this evening she continues to take a keen interest. The group is made up of local MPs, council leaders, the Local Enterprise Partnership and local businesses and who are collectively putting the case to Network Rail and central government to secure the necessary funding. The question is, will her reduced majority in last week's election speed things along?
Network Rail’s consultation closes on June 30 so if you have an opinion, get it in. An abridged version of the consultation can be found here: https://16cbgt3sbwr8204sf92da3xxc5m-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Kent-Route-Study-Summary.pdf and you can email your comments to KentRouteStudy@networkrail.co.uk
And finally, for those of you who are interested in the history of the Marshlink line, here is an excerpt from Network Rail’s consultation document written by tonight's speaker Paul Best:
6.1 Background
6.1.1. From the outset of the Route Study development, the Department for Transport instructed that High Speed services to Hastings and Bexhill should be incorporated in the Kent Route Study.
6.1.2. This scheme is seen as vital to the prosperity and future growth of the coastal toens (sic) of Hastings and Bexhill as it could reduce the journey time to London, making the area attractive to City workers, following on from the successof Margate’s regeneration.
6.1.3. A number of parties have been calling for the upgrade of the Marshlink line for many years. The 1963 Beeching Report originally proposed closing the line completely due to low passenger numbers and high running costs. However it was argued that the parallel A259 road route was too poor to operate replacement bus services.
6.1.4. Sections of the line were reduced to single track in 1979. This was to reduce the maintenance and operations costs to allow the railway to remain operational. To acheive (sic) this, British Rail removed sections of track between very slow crossovers. The linespeed (sic) was also reduced to 60 mph from 85 mph. This has lead (sic) to slow journey times and does not make best use of the modern diesel rolling stock currently operating the line, which have a top speed of 100mph.
The full report can be found here: https://16cbgt3sbwr8204sf92da3xxc5m-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Kent-Route-Study-Technical-Appendix-Draft-for-Consultation.pdf
Kevin McCarthy
