In the next parliament, Hastings & Rother Rail Users’ Alliance (HRRUA) wants to see our two MPs (for the constituencies of Hastings and Rye as well as Bexhill and Battle) working together to achieve improvements to the region’s three rail services:
East Coastway (for Brighton, Gatwick Airport, Victoria)
Marshlink (for Ashford International)
Hastings line (for Charing Cross, Cannon Street via Tunbridge Wells
To benefit passengers, and therefore passengers living in Hastings & Rye and Bexhill & Battle, they need:
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- rail services which
- are punctual (an always-on-time railway)
- are reliable (modern trains which complete their journeys)
- have adequate capacity to meet ever-rising demand, and
- quickly and reliably inform of any disruption
- Sunday services at the same level as Saturday services as the region’s economy is heavily dependent on tourism throughout the year.
- Step-free access to our stations and between platforms – a supplementary DfT Access for All fund, of £200 million for 50 more stations nationwide, would complement what has now been fully committed to stations outside our region
- The completion of construction of a Marshlink / HS1 connection at Ashford International station, and a Marshlink infrastructure programme designed and costed to improve line speed and ultimately permit two trains per hour operation on the line.
- rail services which
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And at the same time, there must be no reduction in services (eg Ore-Cannon Street) within the current or future franchises.
HRRUA comprises five rail user groups representing the area between Normans Bay, Bexhill, Hastings / Ore, Three Oaks / Winchelsea, and Rye. The contact details for more information are :
Stuart Harland (chairman, MarshLink Action Group) stuart@harland.biz
Trevor Davies (Ore Transport Group) trevor.d2016@outlook.com
Yolanda Laybourne (acting chair, Bexhill Rail Action Group) yolanda.laybourne@btinternet.com
Image Credits: Stuart Harland .
Not sure why the HS1 link is a priority over a 30 minute service all day using reliable trains. I think electric, battery hybrids are the way forward for local passengers (of which I am a regular). If the SE Trains classic services and Marshlink connected better, the “benefit” of using HS1 is only about 15mins and includes a nice walk through St James Park.
The “nice walk through St James park” depends where in London you are heading for, as does the benefit of using HS1. For connecting journeys north of London, from Kings Cross, St Pancras or Euston, then HS1 has a big advantage in both time and convenience.