What We Do
The SRTA area covers Sevenoaks, Bat & Ball, Dunton Green, Eynsford, Kemsing, Otford and Shoreham.
Issues of concern are raised by SRTA Committee members with Southeastern Railway and local station management
We also act in response to enquiries from individual SRTA members and supporters.
Topics discussed include:
- Access and facilities for passengers with disabilities
- Bus and taxi facilities
- Car parking and CCTV
- Cleaning
- Cyclists’ facilities
- Flooding – progress at last!
- Graffiti removal
- Lighting
- Litter removal
- Notices and station signing
- Painting and maintenance
- Passenger safety and security – SRTA campaigned hard to replace the slippery station flooring
- Seating on the concourse and on the platforms
- Snow, ice and leaf clearance
- School services
- Station facilities
- Station staffing
- Ticket barriers and checking
- Ticket office hours
- Ticket vending machines (and overcharging) – SRTA continues to push for more, simpler and faster machines, and for a second machine on the Kippington side of the station
- Toilets
- Train running information (accuracy and relevance)
- Combating Vandalism
And for the historian, a link to a timeline of key dates in the development of local rail services
The current information board at Bat & Ball is very welcome, but we queried its value while waiting for the 10.33 via Bromley South yesterday (16/07/2105). The board displayed three trains: West Hampstead 10.33 CANCELLED, 10.40 Sevenoaks On Time, and 10.33 West Hampstead On Time. A passenger on the platform told us there had been a loudspeaker announcement confirming that the 10.33 had been cancelled, and while we waited, we heard a further announcement apologising for the cancellation. Shortly afterwards the 10.33 to West Hampstead arrived and we all had to hurry over the bridge – fortunately we were all able-bodied and fairly fast on our feet. Any idea of how this could have happened?
Thanks for this report. We will pursue with Thameslink.
In the Spring/Summer edition of Southeastern’s On Board magazine, page 7 has a short article about the restoration of Bat & Ball station including the mind-boggling information that “The new building will also have the ability to sell train tickets and flat access to the London-bound platform of the station.” A drawbridge? Something like the pivoting bridge in Hull? Can’t wait!
@Gill The plan is to have access from the car park of the community centre on the London-bound side of the station. No drawbridge involved!
Thanks – I’m aware of the plans to access the London-bound platform via Cramptons Road, but as this article was specifically about the ‘new’ (restored) station building, with no mention of the community centre, I wondered if I’d missed something. Fake news!
Still the ticket machines keep going out of order. Perhaps additional ticket machines should be placed in nearby shops. The unions would probably object but that would be stupid as railway staff jobs would be unaffected. It would simply mean that the shops concerned would immediately report to the nearest railway ticket office that the machine had failed, meaning that it would hopefully be fixed sooner than would otherwise be the case. Ideally some ticket offices could be located in shops, as is now going to be done in Wales; I do not see why that should be regarded as being any different from having post offices in shops.