Tony Clayton, Chair of the Sevenoaks Rail Travellers Association, has written to the Leader of Kent County Council. KCC have reportedly withdrawn their support for the rail devolution prospectus published a year ago. We ask how KCC are going to ensure that the rail service improvements for Kent promised a year ago are going to be delivered by another round of the existing franchise model – a model which has led to some of the highest fares and some of the lower customer satisfaction ratings in the country.
Here is the text of the letter:
Dear Councillor Carter
Our members saw yesterday’s Evening Standard in which you are reported to say that the Mayor of London’s plans for rail devolution on South Eastern adversely affect Kent commuters. We do not know if you have been reported accurately, or how your staff have briefed you. On the basis of our work over the last three years, we are clear that the claims are wrong, and TfL have confirmed that to us today..
We would like to see the evidence which KCC is using. Can we please meet you or your team, as a matter of urgency to sort this out?
What we know to be true is that TfL plan to run a 15 minute off peak service, where there is spare capacity. The TfL managers concerned tell us they fully understand South Eastern rail capacity and they accept that it is essential to run a 20 minute service in the peak. This underpins their guarantee which will safeguard long distance commuter services – including ours. SRTA’s position is set out at http://srta.org.uk/wp/posts/2160.
We should like to know what KCC propose in their role as representative of Kent rail commuters to increase peak period capacity on our mainline. It is vital for KCC to have a clear, bold and achievable vision for rail services in west Kent. It will need to deliver here the same sorts of benefits that TfL offer, focused on the railway as a means of driving economic and social growth in Kent rather than as an end in itself. Protecting existing poor-quality services is not enough.
Ideas for devolving rail services, and getting away from the dead hand of central government have been developed on an all party basis. They have taken years of collaborative work – with important contributions from two current Cabinet ministers. Our members have the right to be angry if party politics leaves them with today’s system, which delivers to Kent the worst rail traveller satisfaction scores in Britain, for the next ten years.
Yours sincerely
Tony Clayton, Chair, Sevenoaks Rail Travellers Association
Well done. Short, sharp and to the point. Congratulations for not letting this completely demotivate you !!
Here’s hoping for a good response
Excellent letter. I fear a Conservative Party game here to scupper the Labour mayor. I hope I’m wrong.
I don’t think it’s quite as bad as that, Paul. Personal animosity between the Transport Minister and the Mayor appears to be the driving factor. Along with the track record of excellent decisions from the former in a ministerial position (cough).
@mike Perhaps many would regard personal animosity between elected officials as an even worse driver of public policy than party politics? Either way, it’s scandalous that hundreds of thousands of rail passengers in south-east London and Kent seem to be being denied real and long-awaited improvements as a result.
Another aspect is how few of these councillors actually commute on a regular basis who make these decisions of our behalf. Remember on KCC they have a car mileage allowance.
@alan If you work in Maidstone then rail is a poor travel option – there are no direct trains to our county town from Sevenoaks, Rochester, Canterbury, Tunbridge Wells, and only occasional ones from Tonbridge – even though the lines through Maidstone have plenty of spare capacity. We’d hoped that, under the original devolution proposals, the engagement of Kent in the non-Metro part of the franchise would have given a new focus on improving train services within Kent, particularly to Maidstone and Canterbury, rather than just focus on commuting to London.
I agree Maidstone is poorly served and badly connected, even with three stations. But this actually augments the case for Carter to do something positive about it, given that the KCC offices are directly opposite one main line station. I need to get my Maidstone colleagues onto this. Actually Maidstone is easier by bus from Tonbridge or Tunbridge Wells by train at present with regular direct services, but not in the late evening alas.
@alan The bus from Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells, though direct, is unattractive too – 55 minutes from Tonbridge and 80 minutes from Tunbridge Wells for 15 and 17 miles respectively!
Ah well, my mother who lives in North Tonbridge travels by bus to Maidstone every Tuesday. And she is retired so not time constrained. I actually caught the train back from Maidstone to Tonbridge last Saturday evening and it was fine but only hourly. I guess as a non car owner perhaps we are more easily pleased!
The KCC certainly have form in this area: it’s worth remembering that if they hadn’t spitefully blocked rail devolution when it was first proposed (they threw a silly tantrum over Boris Island), we’d already be enjoying all the benefits of a TfL service the same way that Brentwood and Shenfield do now. After TfL Rail took over, fares from Brentwood went down and season ticket holders were even given refunds!
TfL has confirmed that all the ’red lines’ agreed with KCC still stand (e.g. not reallocating mainline timetable slots to metro services), so the KCC’s second U-turn is clearly nothing more than a crudely opportunistic attempt to undermine the new Mayor. This new Winter of Discontent is fomenting some very strange and unholy alliances, and none of them gives two hoots about rail users.
It’s outrageous that Kent rail users may well be denied all the benefits that the Overground and TfL Rail takeovers have successfully delivered elsewhere, just because of another dismal round of petty party political squabbling. It’s like watching the Bash Street Kids having a brawl in the playground.
We deserve far better professional behaviour from our lords and masters.
I certainly do think that personal animosity is a poor basis for public policy making. I was just hoping (almost certainly vainly) that this would be a hiccup in the relationship between the UK Government and London’s, rather than the precursor of wholesale breakdown !!
I note from his bizarre comments that Charlie Elphicke the MP for Dover and Deal is also trying to wreck the devolution of rail services. ‘London is a Hunger Games-style capital seeking to subjugate Kent’
The comments from the Dover and Deal Mp are simply bizarre. In the event of border checks being upgraded post Brexit especially for food items such as meat it will not just be about rail passengers needing faster access but goods on freight as well.
I fear Tony Clayton has wasted both his time and a postage stamp. Paul Carter, KCC’s leader, will take no notice. His statement is designed to help his beleaguered political colleague, Chris Grayling out. Graylings decision defies logic, TfL could have given local rail users a better service, but no, passengers play second fiddle to party politics. And l notice that Grayling has now been joined by another Tory MP, Dover’s Charlie Elphicke. Expect similar expressions of support from other MPs keen to curry favour shortly.
Meanwhile, we the fare paying passengers pay the price.
Well there are county council elections this May so high time to contact your local representative to ask their position and act accordingly!
Meanwhile, Southeastern’s customer satisfaction has dropped to just 31%. Only sister company Southern are worse.
But KCC think Southeastern’s good enough for us, forcing us pay the second highest season ticket rates in the country. Yes, we’re certainly paying the price !