Survey drawn up
MALLING and District Rail Travellers' Association has finished drawing up a survey it hopes will provoke a U- turn over changes to London-bound services from West Malling.
The group was given a stay of execution by rail transport minister Chris Mole at the beginning of June after Tonbridge and Malling MP Sir John Stanley handed him a 1,000-signature petition calling for a rethink on cutbacks which would leave commuters without a link from West Malling to London Bridge and Cannon Street.
The rail association's chairman Felipe Alviar-Baquero said: "The survey has finished and we are in the process of analysing all the information. There is really good data. It will be with the Department of Transport by Friday (tomorrow).
"We also found that 101 of the spaces in one of the car parks in Sevenoaks are taken by annual ticket holders that live in places like West Malling and Maidstone."
Southeastern plans to make the changes on the Maidstone East line in December as part of its franchise agreement with the Department for Transport.
Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council's planning and transportation advisory board discussed the plans at its last meeting.
In his response to Network Rail's Draft Kent Rout Utilisation Strategy the council's director of planning Steve Humphrey said the withdrawal of the Cannon Street service is "a major problem for those residents whose working life is entirely dependent on the service and who have only in recent weeks become aware of this impending disaster for them personally."
He also pointed out there was an urgent need to create more parking at West Malling Station, an already busy station which is "bound to become significantly busier".
2 Comments
by David Toser, Borough Green
Monday, August 24 2009, 3:39PM
“I can understand why Southeastern trains can not continue the off peak service from Maidstone & West Malling to Cannon Street from December 2009, as they need these units to provide the additional services on the Tunbridge Wells and Sevenoaks route. Ironic that these additional services will only cause more traffic congestion in Sevenoaks and demand for car parking space that can not be met..
They seem to have overlooked the fact that there are three dual voltage train sets only used during peak hours to provide three journeys each way between Bedford and either Rochester or Maidstone via Blackfriars. Although not as well placed for city travellers as Cannon Street, these units could be used during the day to provide an hourly fast service from Maidstone to Kentish Town via Blackfriars, Farringdon and St. Pancras Intl., calling at West Malling, Borough Green, Otford and Swanley to allow those stations also to have a fast service to the city during the day, as well as maintaining the restricted peak hour service already provided. The train sets are sitting at Bedford all day waiting for the evening peak service to start, so why not use them during the day on the Mainstone line where they are needed?”
by Chalkwell Coaches, Maidstone
Friday, August 21 2009, 9:10AM
“You may wish to know that we operate a daily coach service from Maidstone, Leybourne and West Malling to Docklands, The City and Central London. Our fares are also condiserably cheaper than the railways. For more information visit www.chalkwell.co.uk”