‘Medway Lib Dems Call for a Medway Train Service with the addition of an extra Station’
Medway Lib Dems have reviewed the proposals in the Hoo - Routes to Good Growth consultation document and made a comprehensive submission to the HIF Team Our proposals contained major upgrades to the Rail section and are intended to be constructive.
The most glaring issue is the absence of the Higham Curve, preventing a train service covering Hoo and the rest of the Medway Towns. The implication is that the only connections required are to London, which will not serve the needs of Medway in the long term. Focusing on London ignores the idea that more people will be remote working in the future and therefore less demand for commuting to London.
If Hoo Station becomes a terminus as in the consultation, this shows a lack of ambition meaning that a service extension to Thamesport and Grain is being written off now. We think this is short-sighted and recommend changes that would allow the extension at a later date.
We have recommended that the loop near Cooling includes a station. The trains will stop there, adding a station would allow the nearby villages of Cooling, Cliffe and Cliffe Woods to board and alight there.An extra station we allow residents the opportunity to work and shop in Rochester and Chatham, whilst also opening up a beautiful part of Kent for other Medway residents to explore for pleasure.
This infrastructure project is a once in a generation chance to shape how Medway residents travel in the future. An opportunity to reduce our town's dependency on motor transport, and therefore cutting carbon emissions whilst improving air quality.
An opportunity to knit our towns closer together economically, allowing struggling high-streets easier access to customers. Yet this tired and old Conservative administration lack the ambition to see this for what it is, preferring to care more about London residents then their own. Medway Lib Dems do not lack this ambition, and this is why we are proposing in our submission a solution that benefits Medway residents for generations to come.
ENDS