Southeastern announce cash cow Deal

The success of high-speed services for DEAL has resulted in Southeastern turning the service into a cash cow after an inflation busting fare increase has been announced. From January 2013 DEAL and Sandwich commuter season tickets will go up by 6.46%, the highest increase in the country.

Ironically news of the increase came on the very day Kent County Council launched their "Grow For It in East Kent" campaign. A campaign which builds on the Pfizer Task Force recommendation to introduce high-speed services to DEAL and Sandwich and promote the new links as great destinations for business and tourism.

As a regular commuter on the service myself I have witnessed the huge increase of commuters from DEAL which has now resulted in the introduction of the first commercially operated services. 

Southeastern shareholders must be rubbing their hands with glee as simply stopping trains at a station is creating such a great cash cow for them. Ironically none of the cash appears to be reinvested locally. We still have a broken station clock, unreadable station sign, line restrictions and semaphore signalling which causes constant delays.

The real travesty is that the Government, Kent County Council and our MP Charlie Elphicke appear oblivious to the damage this increase will cause to job opportunities and tourism. The very things they say they are committed to.

Equally, Southeastern shareholders may find they achieve a quick windfall but eventually they will simply price people off the service.

NEW improved December HS timetable for DEAL

Two new Southeastern high-speed services launch in the new timetable which starts 9th December 2012:

(07:26 Deal to St Pancras) 
(16:40 St Pancras to Deal)

Deal to St Pancras (weekdays)

St Pancras to Deal (weekdays)

A full Southeastern HS timetable starting 9th December can be downloaded here.

December Timetable Changes - DEAL & Sandwich receive additional HS services

DEAL and Sandwich will receive an additional service to St Pancras in the morning and from St Pancras in the evening.

0742 Dover to St Pancras will start back from Sandwich at 0720 and also call at DEAL (0726). As result of passenger requests, this provides for a later arrival into St Pancras for Sandwich and DEAL passengers at 0849.

1642 St Pancras to Margate will start at 1640 and divide at Ashford. The front 6 coaches will form an additional train to Sandwich (arr 1813) calling at Folkestone West (arr 1735), Folkestone Central (arr 1738), Dover Priory (arr 1749), and DEAL (arr 1806). The rear 6 coaches will continue as now to Margate. This provides an earlier return service from St Pancras to Sandwich and DEAL and also an additional through service from St Pancras to Folkestone & Dover at the start of the evening peak.

KCC responds to DfT rail franchise consultation with all-day High Speed service requirement for DEAL

Kent County Council has responded to the Department for Transport's rail franchise consultations. The two consultation responses - for the South Eastern and for the Combined Thameslink franchises - were approved by Bryan Sweetland, the Cabinet Member for Environment, Highways & Waste. 

Q7 The Council, in response to representations from the local Rail User Group and other stakeholders, now proposes that the new franchise specification should include a requirement for this High Speed service to operate all day. This would undoubtedly support the regional economic growth so urgently needed in this part of Kent, where unemployment is among the highest level in the county. The provision of an all-day High Speed service between London St Pancras, Folkestone, Dover, Deal and Sandwich should encourage access to London employment and education opportunities for residents from East Kent, and also the location by businesses in this part of Kent bringing new local employment opportunities. 

This is great news but there is a sting in the tail! KCC also mention their aspiration for off peak High Speed services to be increased from one train per hour to two trains per hour but only for Folkestone West, Folkestone Central and Dover Priory. Considering they mention their surprise at the success of the exisiting passenger numbers using High Speed from Deal and Sandwich this does seem very short sighted. 

Full documentation is available here.

We just want a fair commute and people to visit our town

The adage goes "you can't win the Dover constituency if you don't live in DEAL", amazingly the constituency is officially just called Dover even though the population trend would surmise it should be called DEAL and Dover.

One of the key fundamentals to a thriving town is its railway services and this is even more prevalent in a town like DEAL which has a very low job to working population ratio and an aspiring tourism industry. Charlie Elphicke Conservative MP for DEAL and Dover acknowledges this and has supported the campaign for a full highspeed rail service and has ambitions to make DEAL a high-speed town, but there may be trouble ahead.

The Southeastern franchise is up for renewal and Kent County Council and Trains4Deal want any new franchise which will start in 2014 to have a full highspeed rail service implemented for DEAL. However it is unclear whether Dover District Council support this. Their latest strategic transport priorities appear to only back the construction of an unwanted multi-storey car park at Dover Priory, presumably to force the district to drive into Dover and boost dwindling passenger numbers at Dover Priory. Many people in DEAL and Dover are increasingly questioning if Dover District Council led by Paul Watkins have the full confidence of the districts population.


Of course you could have the best rail service in the country, but if commuters can't afford to travel on it to work or if tourists can't afford to travel on it to boost tourism and the local economy it ceases to be an asset.

The government plan to raise rail fares from January next year by at least 6.2% and potentially as high as 11% on some routes. At a time when families are struggling to stay financially afloat this is pure madness. If anyone tries to fool you with the word 'investment' I suggest you take a look at the dilapidated station sign at DEAL which can no longer be read, the station clock which displays strange numbers or take a trip on the notorious mainline service. Some Kent Conservative MP's have spoken out strongly at the planned increases, surprisingly Charlie Elphicke has not.

If Labour had not have awarded Southeastern the franchise in the first place maybe some of these problems wouldn't exist. Certainly the blame for a lack of highspeed services to DEAL is entirely the last Labour Governments fault.

Clair Hawkins is the Labour Parliamentary Candidate for DEAL & Dover and has written to the Dover Express about unfair rail rises, a local girl with a lot of ambition is my initial impression of her.

The next general election will be a straight fight between the Conservatives and Labour. The 'must' win seat in the South East will be DEAL & Dover and rail services will be one of voters top issues.

Update 30th August 2012

Charlie Elphicke and Clair Hawkins have both reponded to this blog via twitter:

NEW expanded Southeastern highspeed (HS1) timetable for DEAL

Within the next few weeks DEAL and Sandwich will be served by a new late night service departing London St Pancras at 23:12 and arriving at DEAL at 00:35 enabling people to enjoy a night out in the city before returning direct to East Kent.

December will see the launch of an additional new morning service departing DEAL at 07:26 and arriving into London St Pancras at 08.49 enabling commuters the option of a longer morning lie in. Both services will be operated 'commercially' outside the existing KCC funded agreement and is in response to the huge success of the original services and the continued increase in passenger demand.

This represents another big milestone to a full highspeed service and promotion of DEAL as one of the HS1 premier coastal destinations.

HS1 DEAL Mon-Fri

DEAL & Sandwich aim Javelin at jobs target

 

The District won the county gold medal last month as official figures reveal it achieved the largest decrease in unemployment.

The number of people claiming jobseeker's allowance (JSA) in the district fell by almost 80 from April to May, Mill Hill in DEAL saw the greatest fall of JSA claimants with 21 people back in work.

However Dover District still has a higher unemployment rate than the national average, with 4.2 per cent of the district's population out of work compared to around three per cent in the UK as a whole.

This latest cautiously optimistic news follows the recent announcements from Southeastern that it will increase the number of highspeed trains serving DEAL and Sandwich with an additional morning service stopping at DEAL at 07.26 (arriving at St Pancras 08.49) and a late night service from St Pancras (departing 23.12). These two additional trains will run as commercial services outside the existing Kent County Council subsidy agreement to cope with the increasing passenger demand from DEAL.

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