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Kent Coast Railway Line

My hon. Friend is leading me down a path that I was not going to go down, but he has given me the opportunity to comment on an issue that is not peripheral but separate. Five years ago, representatives of Network Rail came down to Margate and examined the potential for Margate station with me. We talked about signalling on the Kent coast line. I was assured that it would be in place by 2009. Modern signalling, which allows tricks that could not otherwise be played, would allow trains on the Kent coast line to overtake. Advanced signalling and crossover points—although this sounds hairy—allow trains to be run in both directions, overtaking each other, on the two tracks. One might think that that would mean that trains would meet head-on at some point, but I am assured that that is not the case. New signalling would also allow trains to travel much closer together, with much more signalling and therefore many more safety points on the line. The problem with the Kent coast line, as my hon. Friend and I know, is that it was built on the cheap 100 years ago. It has gradients instead of cuttings and only two passing points between Ramsgate and London. He is absolutely right to make that point. Sadly, the date has slipped. It will now be 2012 or 2014 before improvements are—literally—on track. David Eustace, Southeastern trains customer services officer, continued:""On taking over the franchise in 2006 we inherited as a contractual commitment the Integrated Kent Franchise service specification, which detailed the level of service the DfT had stipulated for the Southeastern network"," so it is the Department for Transport's baby. He added:""As it stands, there are unlikely to be any significant changes for when the summer timetable starts in May"." That will bring joy to the hearts of my constituents. Understanding that Govia's Keith Ludeman and Southeastern's Charles Horton were effectively pawns on the DFT chessboard, I wrote to the Secretary of State on 6 January, after a disastrous Christmas rail transport season in east Kent. In that letter, I said that I would be meeting Southeastern's Charles Horton to discuss the flow of complaint e-mails that I was receiving from dissatisfied customers, and I invited the Secretary of State to attend the meeting. Having met Mr. Horton, I wrote again to the Secretary of State on 18 January, saying:""With regards to the bigger picture, Mr. Horton places the responsibility on the terms of the franchise agreement laid down by your Department."" Southeastern is in no doubt either about where the buck stops. I continued:""It is clear that now that the new timetable has been imposed it cannot be changed piecemeal and will require a thorough review. To establish how best the present unacceptable position may be rectified in the shortest possible time and in order that I may apprise you of the detail of the views of travellers, I am formally requesting a personal meeting with you"." On 26 January, the Minister responded to my first letter of 6 January on behalf of the Secretary of State:""Your constituents are well served by the December 2009 timetable"," citing additional services to London Cannon Street, London Victoria and London Bridge stations, as well as the unloved St. Pancras service. We will hear the views of the travelling public in due course. In a further and—forgive me—crass observation indicating his lamentable understanding of the geography of east Kent, the Minister then prayed in aid of his improvement claims services to Tunbridge Wells, Tonbridge, Sevenoaks, Bexleyheath, Greenwich and Grove Park, none of which are of interest to those using the Kent coastal services. He was, however, gracious enough to acknowledge that""The Department has received some negative feedback"." On 12 February, the Minister wrote again on his Lordship's behalf, this time in response to my letter requesting a meeting with the Secretary of State:""I am unable to attend such a meeting due to diary commitments"," his diary having presumably been rearranged for the general election. He asserted in a further letter on 22 February that""Southeastern is now the best connected London-serving Train Operating Company, serving seven London terminal stations"" and told me and those whom I represent:""forecast modelling tools used by the rail industry suggest that it will take up to three years for a new market to reach 100 per cent. of its potential. It is, therefore, too early to be seeking to reach a judgment on the recently introduced service to St. Pancras."" My constituents are travelling now, not in three years' time. Their working lives are being disrupted now. They are paying vastly inflated fares—way above the Department's alleged increase of RPI plus 3 per cent.—now. They are travelling on dirty, overcrowded, unreliable trains, and arriving home late from work to cold dinners and children already in bed, now.