​Tunbridge Wells & District Rail Travellers' Association.

November 2011

Dear Member,

Welcome to the Autumn 2011 newsletter!

It’s been a while since the Association was in touch with you but that doesn’t mean that there hasn’t been a lot going on. This is my first newsletter as Chairman and I want to update you on the following issues from the last few months:

• December 2011 timetable changes
• South Eastern franchise extended
• Fares Fair campaign
• London Bridge – future work
• Car parking charges
• Rail Action Plan for Kent
• TWDRTA website
• Meetings

December 2011 timetable changes
On 3rd November South Eastern announced minor changes to the timetable which will come into effect on Sunday 11 December 2011. They say that these “minor changes are primarily to help improve connection times and overall train performance.” The main changes affecting Hastings line services are as follows:
• 06:37 Ore to Cannon Street & 07:04 Hastings to Charing Cross will operate as 12 cars throughout from Hastings.
• 07:25 Hastings to Cannon Street will operate as 8 cars throughout and no longer attach at Tunbridge Wells.
• 08:17 Charing Cross to Hastings will operate as a 12 car throughout.
• 18:03 Charing Cross to Hastings will start at 17:59 and will operate as a 12 car train throughout to Hastings, no longer detaching a portion at Tunbridge Wells.
South Eastern say that the provision of 12 cars throughout to Hastings will eliminate the need for these trains to attach to or divide at Tunbridge Wells and will improve performance in this area. It also provides additional capacity for stations to Hastings.
Our view is that we understood the use of 12 car services to Hastings had always been prohibited because of power issues from the third rail. Presumably this has been overcome and if so the simplification of operational issues at Tunbridge Wells may be welcomed. The retention of current fast and slow trains up and down with attachment/detachment at Tunbridge Wells is also to be welcomed. But, as ever, we will have to wait and see how it works in practice.

South Eastern franchise extended
The announcement in March that South Eastern were to have their franchise extended until March 2014 did not come as a surprise.  The firm has certainly made improvements to the train service since the dire days of Connex. Although there are clearly aspects where their performance was poor, particularly during bad weather, I raised the point that I could see no real benefit in changing the franchisee at this stage. For Tunbridge Wells and Hastings line commuters there were significant improvements in the December 2009 timetable. Praise for these improvements should be tempered with a realisation that there have been significant fare increases, which are likely to continue until at least 2015 – a situation that the previous government permitted and which has been extended by the current coalition government. Also at the time the franchise was let the growth forecasts were rather more robust than has proved to be the case and consequently South Eastern are now in a situation known as revenue support – effectively an increase in subsidy as the DfT will fund any shortfall in revenue. It could be argued therefore that we pay through fares and then partly again through our taxes – a situation that – to put it mildly – isn’t great!

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Fares Fair Campaign
During the summer I was approached on behalf of the Association to support the Kent & Sussex Courier’s campaign to prevent disproportionate fair rises in the Tunbridge Wells, Tonbridge and Sevenoaks area. The statistics are telling in that stations along the line particularly down to Wadhurst have suffered significantly higher fair rises (i.e. even above the RPI + 3% formula laid down by government) over the last few years. The campaign was run over four weeks with significant publicity and the presentation of a petition against disproportionate fair rises. We will shortly see whether it has had an impact.



London Bridge – future work

It will be important to keep your eyes on the network rail web-pages in the next few months – major work is going on at London Bridge which will last until 2018 and the impact on travellers may be considerable. The issue of future services to Cannon Street has grabbed the headlines but look at http://www.networkrail.co.uk/London-Bridge-station-redevelopment-contracts.aspx for improvements to the station and the Thameslink project for details of changes to track and platforming at London Bridge (though that is still a few years away!)

Car Parking charges

The issue of car parking charges raised its head in October – mainly as a consequence of motorists parking in the road at places like Etchingham and Frant effectively making important thoroughfares into single roads. The Courier article tried to give a view from a number of sides. I was quoted as wanting to see the real cost of car parking for South Eastern and also making the point about trying to encourage people to use the railways and that an extra £700+ a year (the cost of parking at Etchingham – it is more at Wadhurst and Tunbridge Wells) may be a significant deterrent. Even a £4 charge will deter passengers for shorter journeys.



Rail Action Plan for Kent

From being a relatively passive observer front, Kent County Council have recently assumed a more active role in the rail policy the face of mounting concerns about future travel patterns in the county, and have held three summits to enable stakeholders to have their say.  The Rail Action Plan for Kent flowed from the results of a public consultation, in which the central focus is the next Kent Franchise due to start in April 2014. In this regard KCC have listened to their critics and have set out a list of requirements which they say are an essential basis of the new franchise. 

The main points of interest for local travellers are:



• The Cannon Street service from Hastings via Tunbridge Wells, Tonbridge and Sevenoaks should be retained and not replaced by new Thameslink service in 2018 which would anyway only operate as far south as Tunbridge Wells



• Through Gatwick – Tonbridge – Ashford hourly all day service in partnership with Gatwick Airport Ltd and operator of new franchise for Southern operating area could commence in 2015; KCC will continue to work with Gatwick Airport Ltd, Network Rail and existing franchisee to deliver this objective;



• The County Council would also expect to see ongoing improvements to the station environment (cleanliness, comfort, security, information, customer service etc) and to integration with other modes of transport (i.e. the whole journey experience); there is also a pressing need for increased parking capacity at many stations, coupled with on-street parking controls by local authorities on roads in immediate vicinity of stations;



• KCC also recognises the need for the level of rail fares charged in Kent to offer better value for money, so as to encourage economic growth throughout the county. While KCC recognises that regulated rail fares policy is determined by Government, the County Council will continue to press for a reduction in the annual level of increase in regulated fares charged across Kent, which is currently set by the DfT at RPI +3%.



• The County Council will also seek a change in the current regulated fare policy which permits the franchisee to raise fares above this level by a further 5%, provided that an equal number of fares are lowered by an equivalent percentage. It is this combination of formulae which has resulted in the excessive fare increases in Kent of up to 13.8%; this element of fares policy must be reversed from January 2012 so that the maximum
increase in the county is the same as elsewhere in England at RPI +3%.

As you can see there are links with topics elsewhere in this newsletter and this plan was presented to Transport Minister Theresa Villiers in May 2011.

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TWDRTA web-site
Martin Lewis – who stood down as Chairman last year – announced in the Autumn 2010 newsletter that the Association now has a website at www.twdrta.co.uk  It has basic information about the association but also a news page and links to key rail industry sites. We will make greater use of the site as a central part of our recruitment strategy in the future, and intend to deliver improvements to it over the next year.

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TWDRTA meetings
The other purpose of this newsletter is to assure you that – although the normal September/October AGM hasn’t taken place this year - we will be coming out to you shortly about how we will re-vamp the AGM (which has not been well attended in recent years) and also about how we can better keep in touch with you and your views in the future. In the mean-time you can contact us at TWDRTA@hotmail.com. It would be particularly helpful to know your email address and whether you would be prepared in the future to receive TWDRTA communications electronically – please use the hotmail address above to confirm this.​

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With thanks,

Yours faithfully,

Bob Baker
Chair, Tunbridge Wells & District Railway Travellers’ Association