Thanet council will foot £2 million of the bill for the proposed parkway station at Cliffsend.
The funding was agreed by council Cabinet members on Tuesday (January 15) as part of the proposed budget for 2019-20 and financial plan for 2019-2023. It is expected to be approved at full council on February 7.
The sum was confirmed during the meeting after Labour’s Peter Campbell questioned the contribution.
Council leader, Conservative Bob Bayford, said: “There are anticipated costs (to Kent County Council) of £26 million and they are still looking for contributions.
“KCC and our council believe it is strategically really important to have that station and it is quite reasonable (for TDC) to make a contribution to the project.”
A planning application for the station was submitted in June last year. It will be built off the Hengist Way, on the existing Ashford to Ramsgate rail line near the Sevenscore roundabout. It will be a two platform station with the entrance on the north side. There will be a 300 space car park, platforms accessible by stairs, lift and pedestrian bridge.
Waiting shelters, CCTV and passenger information points will be provided on each platform along with ticket machines and a help point to provide remote assistance by intercom.
The station is designed to be unstaffed and managed remotely through the use of CCTV and intercom.
The aim is to provide improved services to London Stratford International station. However a statement from the Department for Transport, in response to a Freedom of Information request by former councillor Ian Driver,said the proposal would shave just one minute off of journey times from Ramsgate and Margate.
The original estimated cost of the project was £11.2 million but in 2016 documents from a SE England Local Enterprise Partnership (SELEP) and Kent & Medway Economic Partnership (KMEP) meeting said the cost could rise to £26 million. KCC rebutted this saying construction costs were expected to be £16 million and the revised total was £21.4million.
A government grant of £10 million was agreed through the Regional Growth Scheme but this still leaves a significant shortfall. KCC say other options are being explored to fill the funding gap.
A spokesman said: “KCC are contributing £2.65 million from our own capital, and the South East Local Enterprise Partnership are contributing £10 million from the Local Growth Fund.
“The lower cost estimate was from an early stage in the project and the revised figure of £21.4million is based on the GRIP (Guide to Rail Investment Process) 3 design, which is a feasibility design.
“We will refine the cost estimate in the later GRIP stages, with outline design and then detailed design.”
The DfT previously rejected KCC’s £8.7m grant application towards the cost of building the station.
The station is due to open in 2021.
