Fighting to KEEP the high speed trains
for Deal and Sandwich beyond 2018
Why is Trains4Deal, the local rail-users' group campaigning to get from OTHER areas to come by rail INTO Deal and Sandwich? The answer is simple:
for Deal and Sandwich beyond 2018
Why is Trains4Deal, the local rail-users' group campaigning to get from OTHER areas to come by rail INTO Deal and Sandwich? The answer is simple:
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AIM: Fill more seats off-peak and at weekends - why?
Our local HS commuter services are popular - but if the rest of the day, trains run EMPTY, we'll lose them. Carrying local commuters UP to London in the morning, and DOWN again in the evening, is not enough. Attracting off-peak travellers in the reverse direction, down to the coast, is vital for two reasons:
(1) filling empty day-time trains will help the line beyond Dover pay its way
(2) more visitors to the coast = more local jobs
Hastings is already lobbying hard to have some of the Javelins diverted to their line when the next rail franchise starts after 2018.
(1) filling empty day-time trains will help the line beyond Dover pay its way
(2) more visitors to the coast = more local jobs
Hastings is already lobbying hard to have some of the Javelins diverted to their line when the next rail franchise starts after 2018.
KEY STEP: Station should be a welcoming gateway
The key is to give visitors a much better welcome. When they arrive on the High Speed train without their car, they should find help to explore and find their destination (or information about what's on offer if they haven't made plans already). At present, at both Deal and Sandwich, they walk out of the station with little to help them with their onward journey.
What we'll do by March 2016
At each station, there will a lively engaging display about the forgotten history of this pioneering branch line;
there will be well-designed leaflets and signage to help visitors arriving without their cars to find all there is to do, and how to get there;
but the biggest task will be to prepare a feasibility study - with costed options based on professional advice - on how the station sites can be developed for community benefit - as a basis for open local discussion and consultation, followed by serious fund-raising for the next phase.
See our proposals - we ask for your support
At each station, there will a lively engaging display about the forgotten history of this pioneering branch line;
there will be well-designed leaflets and signage to help visitors arriving without their cars to find all there is to do, and how to get there;
but the biggest task will be to prepare a feasibility study - with costed options based on professional advice - on how the station sites can be developed for community benefit - as a basis for open local discussion and consultation, followed by serious fund-raising for the next phase.
See our proposals - we ask for your support
Our longer term vision
This type of plan is known around the country as "station adoption". We visited the scheme on the Settle & Carlisle Railway, and were able to tap the brains of some of the volunteers who who do amazing things to help save and promote that iconic line.
Download this document about what they do and how they do it:.
Download this document about what they do and how they do it:.
| casestudies1-stationadoption.pdf |