Thanet Parkway Station opens on Monday (July 31) some 13 years after the scheme was first proposed and at a cost that has quadrupled from an estimated £11m in 2015 to just shy of £44m.
The total price tag may even exceed £44m as further funding has been needed to complete level crossing and signalling work. The project work was impacted by rising inflation.
Last November a further £875,000 was granted to Network Rail for Thanet Parkway railway station scheme to help overcome cost increases due to the impacts of the COVID pandemic, Brexit, and inflation.
The government funding, which was allocated via the South East Local Enterprise Partnership (SELEP), was redistributed after projects in Sussex and Essex stalled. The SELEP board agreed the cash would be made available to existing projects that were hit by higher costs or wanted to expand on the initial schemes.
Thanet Parkway, which entered its delivery phase in 2020 with planning consent granted in September 2020, was one of the successful bids.
This followed a previous series of increases. Market-led changes totalled £330k due to increases in the cost of steel by £114k, £117k increase for the acoustic barrier, and £76k increase in the cost of hoarding. A re-costing of the scheme resulted in a rise of more than £5m.
Soft landscaping costs also increased; the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the costs of the archaeological excavation as additional staff welfare provision was needed on site and a further impact as a result of COVID shutdowns in China has been the reduced supply of microchips, which has affected the purchase of Help Points, Customer Information Screens and control systems for the lighting on the cycleway.
This has resulted in the installation of photocells on the lighting as an interim measure at additional cost. Other project increases have been caused by poor ground conditions needing multiple tonnes of stone to be shipped in from Norway, significant finds affecting the duration and extent of archaeological excavations and in August 2022 increased costs for level crossing works.
Timeline of cost increase:
- February 2021 – £5.8m paid by Kent County Council.
- November 2021 – £1.7m paid by Kent County Council.
- August 2022 – £875k SELEP fund redistribution with the SELEP board noting: “This update does not reflect further cost increases due to the level crossing.”
Former Thanet councillor turned blogger Ian Driver has submitted enquiries regarding the cost hike and sourced details from SELEP documents. He says he believes the station will become “the most expensive white elephant in Kent’s history” with the final costs possibly rising to £50m.
He added: “I believe that the final costs of Thanet Parkway Station is likely to be £50million or more. I also believe that KCC, Thanet Council and Network Rail have been trying to keep the news of this massive increase a secret from the public.
“Surely such important changes to KCC’s financial contribution and the warning of more costs to come should have been reported to a full KCC council meeting, and surely, bearing in mind KCCs £86miliion budget deficit, the public should have been made aware of a possible, and very large, Parkway overspend. But this didn’t happen.”
In response to a query from Mr Driver over the final cost a KCC spokesperson said: “ As with all major projects, final costs are only confirmed when the project’s accounts with contractors are finalised and closed”.
“All costs published to date are estimates, once the project is complete and final accounts with contractors are agreed and paid, the final project cost will be published.”
The cost
Get Building Fund £12,874,000
Local Growth Fund £14,000,000
Kent County Council £11,585,319
Thanet council £2,000,000
New Stations Fund £3,400,000
Total £43,859,319 (excluding additional level crossing costs)
What’s at the station?
Thanet Parkway, which was initially due to open in May, has two 250 metre platforms that can accommodate 12-car trains, and will offer services to St Pancras International via Ashford International in 70 minutes and mainline connections to London terminals and across Kent and the Medway towns.
There are lifts and stairs to access the platforms, ticket vending machines, waiting shelters, acoustic barriers, parking for 293 vehicles, bus stops, pick-up and drop-off zones, electric charging points, hearing loops, cycle storage, CCTV, seating, landscaping works and passenger help points to provide remote assistance for those who need it.
Parking includes 16 spaces for Blue Badge holders and a number of charging points for electric vehicles.
Pick up and drop off zones have also been set out, along with a station bus stop which will be served by an electric minibus shuttle to Discovery Park.
The station is accessed from the A299 Hengist Way with a new pedestrian and cycleway to and from Clive Road in Cliffsend village.
Acoustic barriers have been installed to absorb noise impact and provide privacy for lineside neighbours once train services start operating from the station.
Network Rail says that the station provides the potential for an integrated transport hub in the future.
Thanet council leader Rick Everitt said last month: “Thanet Parkway represents a major statement of confidence in Thanet’s future by national and regional funders. This significant investment could easily have gone elsewhere in the South East. It has come to Thanet because the strength of the business case for this station was widely recognised.
“Thanet Parkway will supplement our existing stations and provide new opportunities for residents who do not currently have easy access to them, without extending existing journey times for those who do not need to use it.
“It means fewer people will need to drive to Ramsgate Station, in particular, and park in nearby residential roads. The new station will make Thanet a more attractive prospect for people looking to relocate to the district.”
People relocating to the district and housing development were two of the focuses for the station project with a report drawn up for Thanet council in 2019 examining how this would increase housing delivery.
The report, by Wessex Economics Ltd, said: “In total, sites for some 9,000 homes are either being developed or identified for development within a 3 mile radius of Thanet Parkway. The commencement of services from Thanet Parkway will provide developers with a valuable tool to market their new developments.”
The Wessex report cites expected in-migration to Thanet from factors such as “increasing numbers of people able to work remotely.”
It adds: “Existing stations in Thanet have very limited car parking facilities, and are located in the urban areas which can make access difficult at peak hours. Evidence from elsewhere shows that part of the appeal of Parkway Stations is their ease of access, and the availability of parking. Parkway stations contribute to making the overall journey to work starting from home to office much more straightforward and less liable to unexpected delay.
“The opening of the Parkway Station will also help to accelerate the development of the 9,000 new homes being built outside the three mile radius of the station.”
A previous study for Kent County Council estimated that over a 30 year period the start of services to London from Thanet Parkway would deliver up to an additional 4,500 homes rather than the 9000 figure quoted in the Wessex report.
The Wessex report adds: “Thanet Parkway has a key role to play in kick starting this virtuous circle by stimulating net immigration to Thanet, which will boost demand for new homes. “With the right supporting interventions this will gather pace and give confidence to homebuilders to invest in Thanet.”
Nearby developments include sites in Cliffsend, Spitfire Green and Manston Green.
The project has faced opposition from numerous district and county councillors who say the isle already has seven stations and does not need another, unmanned one.
There have been questions over passenger safety at an unmanned station and the danger of more building on agricultural land due to the expectation of the station creating demand for new homes.
County Councillor Karen Constantine said: “Since being voted onto Kent County Council in 2017 I have repeatedly called for the monstrously expensive decision to open Thanet Parkway to be reviewed.
“It didn’t make sense prior to Covid to open another railway station on Thanet in Cliffsend. It made even less sense post Covid when we knew working patterns had been irrevocably changed. The days of commuting five days a week up and down to London are gone, technology and personal choice favour a hybrid or home-based approach to working. Which is often better for both the individual and the environment.
“Despite my questions and concerns I have never received a cogent response that justifies this multi million pound mistake. Nor any evidence for it. It appears to be a white elephant project, a super expensive folly imposed on one the poorest communities in Kent. And whilst I appreciate you can’t simply move the budgets dedicated to this project around, it is £44 million wasted.
“It’s little more than a political smokescreen to disguise the fundamental lack of an economic regeneration plan for Thanet. Despite Craig Mackinlay MP tweeting that, it’s needed ‘to complete the regeneration of Thanet and east Kent.’ It’s a monument to the utterly lack-lustre, uncaring, unimaginative ruling Conservatives.
“It’s hard to see any benefits this station brings. Thanet certainly didn’t require an eighth railway station and it’s not impossible to believe that this station might herald cuts in the services to Ramsgate station.”
Cllr Constantine says she fears passengers who will have to drive to Thanet Parkway will also be at risk because it is unmanned and “clearly isolated.”
She added: “The people of Ramsgate are actually getting, longer journey times, higher overall travel costs, more pollution, more traffic clogging the roads and are possibly subject to avoidable risk! Not exactly a great return for £44 million.”
David Davidson, Network Rail’s Kent route director, said: “The opening of this station is testament to the collaborative working relationship between our partners and Thanet Parkway will play a central role in helping boost the local economy and support tourism by providing connections to a wide range of leisure destinations.
“I look forward to seeing the first passengers using Thanet Parkway and would like to thank the many colleagues involved who have worked so hard with our partners in opening this new station.”
How many jobs will be created at this station in return for this £44M?
Lots of building jobs. Or don’t they count?
No, once the station is open to the public, those jobs don’t count. The jobs I’m referring to are the helpful station staff that I would expect to see at a transport hub.
You mean like at Dumpton, Minster and (most of the time) Birchington and Westgate? Fact is, local stations have often been staff-less since the days of British Rail, though I guess you didn’t live here then.
That’s the sort of unhelpful comment that Peter Checksfield would make
It’s also factual.. or would you rather pretend that it’s unique to Thanet Parkway?
None its was built to be unstaffed. So late at night you are on your own!
As you are at other thanet stations in off peak times, as a far as i’m aware only margate and ramsgate have staff all hours.
Even Margate doesn’t have staff after around 9-10pm (and it’s far more dodgy there than in Cliffsend!).
What makes you think it’s more dodgy in a built-up area than in the middle of nowhere?
Have you seen the druggies hanging around outside Margate station at night?
If you can see them, then so can everybody else, and that’s far less dodgy than being in the middle of nowhere, where nobody else can see or hear you.
The druggies are usually the ONLY people there late at night in winter months. NO staff, police, public.
The negative points raised in this report are very valid. THE only reason this station was constructed was/is so as many houses can be built without problems from the residents. No body wanted this station. You don’t move to a lovely small very quiet village and want a train station erected to spoil the ambience of the village. Gone from quiet village to very noisy racetrack. The people here have been conned, including me.
Can McKinlay, TDC and Network Railway please explain how much developers and their shareholders will be enriched by this monstrously overspemt project and how much extra each resident of Thanet will pay annually towards it
Martin ,the future cost of the £11 million that kcc have borrowed will be roughly £400,00 per year for 25 years.it’s like a mortgage repayment
You’ve been robbed.
The station is a eyesore
How does that compare to the art gallery in Margate?
Now,that is a Valid question!
I wonder if Barry will reply?
Lewis, have a laugh. It’s the Labour party who you are a vivid supporter, member and councillor of that have heavily, heavily supported this project, and have continuously pushed for it to commence. The same with the Turner contemporary gallery.
If you don’t agree them, then it’s only right you do the honourable thing and tender your resignation, or stand as an independent. But you wouldn’t, and everyone knows why.
How can you be a member of a party when you don’t align with their views or pledges?
Fact, thanet parkway project is a Kent County council project Fact, kent county council labour group is against the project Fact it is OFFICIAL Labour Party policy to oppose the project Fact I support the OFFICIAL Labour Party policy to oppose the project, barry lewis ,Labour shadow cabinet member and spokesperson on transport in kent
Barry is there anyway the actual use of the station can be established on a day to day basis? It follows if few or any people actually use the station it will prove it is a waste of public money, and those responsible should be held to account. It no use pointing to possible future use, we all know thats just guesswork!
Do you think Dumpton Park station is worth keeping?
Dumpton: I believe Office of Rail and Road (ORR) collect statistics such as station/passenger usage.
surely KCC spending any money on this was a very bad idea
Dumpton part 2
Perhaps I’m being unkind but it looks like it has just cost the taxpayer over £40m to help solve a parking problem around Ramsgate Station ?
The biggest problem with this is that despite the cost quadrupling.. they have not managed to make it any more architecturally pleasing.
It’s ugly as hell and unwelcoming.
It’s not an asset to the public realm other than being functional.
We seem to have given up caring what buildings look like, despite the fact that really, we know that as a society we want things that we can be proud of.
Yes once design and build got going there has been a big downturn in architectural design. But it’s a way of getting cut price builds so builders can make more profit.
Much has happened in 13 years which may perhaps have rather dislocated the original Growth Without Gridlock scenario : for example 1) we do not have an up to date and credible Water Plan which may help to indicate whether KCC population estimates still being advertised (20,000 houses = 50,000 bodies + 25,000 cars as nearly all ‘executive’) are in the least sustainable (apparently the south east is depleting its aquifers fast – perhaps an aqueduct from the Midlands would have been preferable to HS2 ?) and 2) the little matter of Working From Home would have made ‘interesting’ adjustments to traffic forecasts (one imagines) some forecasts are that commuter business is down by a third – but fortunately minication trippers to Margate have a station bang on the beach. Once the Water issue is solved to the satisfaction of the All Party Climate Emergency Advisory Group perhaps the ‘locally led’ Revised Local Plan can then be sensibly addressed ?
No staff no shops no bus service mostly only a hourly service, 8 th thanet railway station, turns out to be £50 million under used park and ride white elephant.what thanet could have done with £50 million, enhanced bus services, filled potholes, more affordable housing and more youth clubs and plenty more
No staff no shops no bus service mostly only a hourly service, 8 th thanet railway station, turns out to be £50 million under used park and ride white elephant.what thanet could have done with £50 million, enhanced bus services, filled potholes, more affordable housing and more youth clubs and plenty more
But of course none of that could possibly be provided as and when the umpteen thousand houses it has been built to serve are built, makes a pleasant change for their to be some early transport provision. As for the cost , it was reported that new lights in the thanet way tunnel cost 2 million, on which basis a brand new ( all be it small station ) for 50 million almost looks like good value. Plus of course it helps with the net zero lunacy.
Can’t wait to use it. Very handy for Pegwell Bay nature reserve and the excellent eatery near the Viking Ship.
Not really. Be a very long walk up a hill then down a hill.
You must be very unfit. I’m a pensioner, yet still manage it easy enough.
I’m not saying you can’t but it’s hardly ‘handy’. Probably around a 20 minute walk and that is a pretty steep hill. The only pedestrian exit is heading up over the dual carriageway, so you’d have to head in the wrong direction to begin with.
There’s a pedestrian exit on the other side through the well-established housing (I know, I checked it out some weeks back).
Well done Ian Driver 👍
LOL
Ian Driver “believes” an awful lot of things…
So do you and everyone else on this planet.
I don’t think LC has picked up on the tone of my 3.42 comment. I wonder if he’s read any of Ian Driver’s blogs. I have and I don’t think they’re particularly credible or correct, let alone impartial.
Unbelievable as you may think, much as Mr Drivers style of writing is a bit overly dramatic there is usually a nugget of truth in the mix, he obviously has suitably placed contacts within tdc that feed him said nuggets. I would certainly agree he’s far from impartial but that doesn’t detract from the embarrassment he causes many of his targets.
All built with the anticipation of Manston Airport becoming a development site.
Trouble here is this railway station has no real use until something happens with the airport.
I personally believe the Airport should be kept and reopened. Regardless if its tourism or commercial.
It would generate more employment for the community, and make Thanet a better place.
The key to its success is keeping the sticky fingers of the council away.
Westwood cross has lacked thought in its growth, and as a result its hard to see a way of improving the road system.
Margate is in a very bad state of neglect, with high unemployment.
The community needs to think very careful with the general elections approaching.
Thanet needs someone with a vision whom we can trust.
Lol
It’s a bloody long walk from manston terminal to thanet parkway lol
is the long termm plan to close Ramsgate Station and turn over the land for developers to make profits from?
No.
Of course, the REAL Ramsgate station closed almost a century ago. The current one was built to serve St. Lawrence.
The current Ramsgate station is the real one. Whatever it was originally built for, it is now Ramsgate’s station.
Anything can be renamed. The briefly-titled “London Manston Airport” wasn’t any nearer London under its new name, same applies to the old St. Lawrence station. If I want to visit Ramsgate by train, I tend to use Dumpton. It’s just as near to the town centre/harbour, and a far more pleasant walk. Perhaps it should be renamed Ramsgate East?
No.
Ramsgate Station has 4 platforms, carriage sheds, train servicing kit, sidings.
It is also the terminus for several London/Kent/Thanet routes.
I don’t know how people have the audacity to try and put a positive spin on this Parkway grave judgement of error, they wonder why KCC is bankrupt and Kent councils none more so than TDC are financially bereft, rubbish decisions, I know there other money in this from private sources but it’s bad decisions following bed decisions such as a bankrupt airfield.
#buildonbrownfieldbuildonmanston
Ms pink I fear that you maybe wrong, still what a giant waste of tax payers money even KCC said it would not have built in hindsight. Many home’s to be built but there are no jobs and will be no jobs, so everyone moving here must have alot of money to live off, or buy to let as Airbnb. KCC and tdc still the biggest joke going for wasting tax payers money. Should be held accountable for their decisions, maybe they will think harder about these decisions
Twelve people on here totally opposed to this bottomless money sink and two in favour . Suspect this is the rough balance of opinion in Thanet.
I suspect it isn’t a rough balance of opinion for those who live in Cliffsend, i.e. the people it was built for.
It wasn’t built for the residents of Cliffsend, it was built for the thousands of new homes to be built in Cliffsend. As for being a good station for visiting the Viking Cafe, as you live in Cliffsend I doubt you need to use the train to get your coffee. Shame about the bus service.
Who said I live in Cliffsend? Not me.
Waoooww, population of Cliffsend + Pegwell in 2021: 4,882. Spend: £50 million… I hope it’s not just for the people in Cliffsend! I would like to consult the due diligence report proving the demand for an additional train station in Thanet. I presume it goes with the hope that one day maybe a ferry lined in gold will transport many cars and passengers, who will use such unmanned train station… I would like to see the due diligence report about the commercial viability of such ferry… Just saying, bearing in mind that there are other more pressing needs in Thanet, like for example building a maritime village including all year round water activities, developing tourism, creating much needed jobs… Just saying!
Not a “maritime village”! That means “expensive flats and houses, which will be used as holiday homes and/or holiday lets”. Ramsgate port should be full of non-polluting industry. RAG has been banging on about a maritime village for years now. Why don’t they like the idea of industry on the port?
44 million
I saw an article the other day were someone from KCC said that if they could turn the clock back KCC wouldnt have agreed this station.
Drove pass this morning who agreed to the massive horrible sign ? You could see that from Mars !
KENT COUNTY COUNCIL have been pleading poverty and telling us that we have to close Richborough recycling, shut all the youth services. (good crime and security one that is),close Sure Start and miss all the urgent pothole repairs. But cheer up, we are getting a shiny new station that hardly anyone will use at a cost of fifty million quid!Time for KCC to go and be replaced with a series of unitary authorities closer to people. Well done to Karen and Barry as voices of sanity in the Maidstone madhouse.
Potentially as much light pollution as Planet Fanet Earth. Another unsightly project in Fanet.
Spot on
https://www.fromthemurkydepths.co.uk/2023/07/26/how-not-to-design-new-southeastern-station-set-to-open-next-week/
the car park will make a good boot fair venue
I agree with a few of the pensioners above. Drove past today and it looks like an eyesore. What a waste of money. Shame they didn’t put 44milion into something tangible like opening Manston airport or other worth while causes like toilets on Margate seafront (open past 6) 👊🇬🇧
If you read RSP’s stuff, you’ll see that their plans will cost a bit more to bring to fruition than £44M
Quite recently it was £500M, and rising.
No staff, no ticket office – free rides for all? But not the disabled like me as we need ramps to get on the train!
Christine, it will be a no-go zone for a lot of people. Quite horrible.
Quite frankly, I would find it quite eerie being a passenger on a train that pulls up at a lawless, unstaffed station like this, especially after dusk. You simply have no idea who is going to join you in the carriage.
Who on earth was responsible for designing a muggers’ paradise like this?
I think you’re painting an unnecessarily alarmist picture of modern rail travel in the UK.
I’ve used trains the length and breadth of the UK for scores of years with no problems.
Christine, why would you, a non-driving disabled person, want to use the station anyway?
And Ian, there are staff on trains, and alarms in carriages these days! The 1950’s are over.
Christine Tongue is concerned about disabled people in general (“people like me”) , not just herself.
She’s talking nonsense of course. It is possible to request in advance for the guard on trains to provide ramps (I know, I’ve seen my mother do it).
It’s necessary to notify in advance if you want to use ramps even if they’re provided at the station. People can’t just turn up and deploy them themselves.
Exactly, Andrew.
In the 1950s, there were staff on the stations, too.
Are you absolutely sure that there are no ramps?
Even tiny, remote stations such as Dumpton Park, Dovey Junction and Corrour (the UK’s most remote station) have ramps.
Christine: the Natuonal Rail web site says that ramps are available at Thanet Parkway Station.
https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/stations/thp/
How unusual for Ms. Tongue to get her facts wrong.
So apparently locating train stations in urban areas makes ‘access difficult’. Who are these morons? Access to this pointless place is basically only by car- hardly making for great ‘access’. And even if you are driving, you’ll be needing to do a U-turn at the roundabout or at Lord of the Manor to get back to where you came from, so again rubbish ‘access’. I wonder how much that report cost??
What are the public transport links for passengers needing to travel into Ramsgate after getting off the train from London and disembarking at Thanet Parkway station?
There aren’t any. But why would someone going to Ramsgate get off at Thanet Parkway? .
Why are we paying so much for the station anyway?
When I last looked, the railways had been privatised.
Every privatisation is spun as being a great idea because “private investment” will bring public benefits. And, apparently, private businessmen know all about what investments work out well, so the governments ,locally and nationally, should not be involved in decisions about the privatised industries.
But the opposite to this “privatise it all propaganda” has actually come about.
We, the public, end up forking out millions of taxpayers pounds to pay for the station. There is no sign that private owners of the railways were prepared to spend their money on it until the government and KCC gave them lots of money to get it built.
The “unusual” difference between the original estimated cost and the eventual cost is always predictable. To get council support, ridiculously low cost figures are submitted while everybody knows full well that the eventual cost will be much greater. But, once the project is underway, no one dares call a halt and be seen as someone who wasted the initial outlay for something that never gets finished. So, like HS2, they keep on finding yet more public money to keep the sorry show on the road(or on the tracks!)
If the private businesses that own our railways wanted a station at Cliffsend, let THEM pay for it. They took over from public ownership, claiming they could run it better and cheaper. Well, prove it, and stop coming back cap in hand for more of our taxes.
It is quite right that ALL public transport is subsidised. It’s the only way to get you lazy lot out of your cars.
Outrageous 44million we have a great train station already Thanet has the highest rate of unemployment a judge amputated of drug drunks and already homeless and TDC take this hedge amount and not help the important issues I commute on a daily basis would not use this station wast of money again TDC
KCC project, not TDC.
A person travelling from London St Pancras to Ramsgate would get off at Thanet Parkway because the journey times are much faster than the trains to Ramsgate central so if they could get a bus from there to Ramsgate it would only add about ten minutes or so on to the total journey time.
You are quite incorrect.
A train from (for example) St Pancras to Thanet takes 5 minutes longer to reach Ramsgate than Thanet Parkway.
There is no bus service from Thanet Parkway; there is however a Loop bus every 10 minutes from Ramsgate Station to the town centre.
If you want to travel from St Pancras to Ramsgate, get off at Ramsgate Station and either walk down the High St or catch a Loop bus into town.
I have checked and the fastest journey from St Pancras to Thanet Parkway is one hour nine minutes, which is faster than the trains to Ramsgate central. So a bus from TP to Ramsgate would be useful for non-car users.
There is 7 minutes difference. Allowing 2 minutes for you to get in the taxi, it would have to drive at supersonic speeds to make any time saving.
Are there any trains from London which terminate at Thanet Parkway?
No.
What is clear is that journey times to Ramsgate, Broadstairs and Margaret ate now 5 minutes longer than they used to be.
So much for improving journey times for Ramsgate residents!
Are you sure about this?
I believe part of the cost of this station build has been to upgrade level crossings at various points to speed up the route so that no minutes are lost by addition of the new station.
I’ve just looked on the National Rail Journey Planner.
St P to THP is 1hr 14 mins; St P to RAM is 1hr 19 mins.
At last someone giving correct information.
Now reopen the airport or start blaming the Tories for the summer being too wet this year and too dry last year. The Constantine way.
“No” to opening the airport, and “yes” to blaming the tories – but not for the dreadful changes to our climate. That’s down to governments of every sort, right across the globe, who have failed over and over again to do anything other than pay lip service to the desperate need to reduce carbon emissions.
We might also blame the Torries for the volcanic eruptions, the pollution due to Putin’s special military operation and the extinction of the dinosaurs. After all, only half of the country voted for them. In any democracy the left should rule. If not, the elections must have been rigged. Let’s blame the Torries for that.
Never before has so much money been wasted by so few.
You’ve obviously not followed the arty “regeneration” going-ons of Margate during the past 15 years.
Ms Pink and some others here,have spent so much time isolated in the far corner of the south east that they do not see what else is going on elsewhere.
Let’s start from the top:
‘If we did not take this opportunity the money would have gone elsewhere’.In this case be careful what you wish for.
Next’The station will take off the pressure over parking at Ramsgate Station’.
Well, what was wrong with painting a few yellow lines along the two approach roads.For £44m Ramsgate could have had a cracking park and ride or a multi storey car park on site, so I am afraid that argument does not hold water.
Parkway has next to no multi modal access,is of the wrong design,uses an architectural design that can only be seen as being neo- colonialist, is isolated, lacking in facilities for disabled users,poorly conceived,poorly executed and grossly over spent.
The excuse about inflation is laughable, as all projects should have a contingency built in.Who was managing this project? Coco the clown?
The opportunity costs of this ill fated scheme are substantial.
£44m would buy 88 or possibly 100 EV buses. Other alternatives, would be increased bus services in key ares especially rural areas.
Instead, we have a non connected station, with no staff.If we look at other parkway stations, they are all connected by bus or tram services.You can reach them by foot or cycle,unlike Thanet where there is poor connections for cyclists and pedestrians.
The Labour Party needs to pull away from this scheme before it delivers results they might not want to swallow.
If I were made transport minister by some strange circumstance, on day one of my appointment,National Highways would get the bullet, on day rwo Network rail would be shutdown and made part of a state railway system, and on day three,KCC would have its transport functions taken away and made part of a transport for the south east organisation, once all the great car economy enthusiasts on its board are removed.Days 4,5,6 &7 would also be interesting.
I am sorry about Rick Everitt, he is trying to justify the unviable by the improvident
The Labour Party is opposed to the station .
As stated in their manifesto in the 2021 county council election. Rick everitt speaks for himself not the Labour Party.i am the Labour spokesperson in kent on transport.
George Nokes’ analysis of this shameful situation is absolutely correct. Money that should have been spent on improving existing transport facilities has instead been squandered.
Are there any plausible excuses to be made for this unnecessary monstrosity? I don’t think so.
No exciuses — and the poverty of design and lack of attention to safety is disgraceful in a public project as expensive as this
First scheduled arrival on Monday 31st is the 04:55 from Ramsgate, arriving THP 04:59.
Will there be anyone on it?
Yes, quite a few rail enthusiasts.
The access to Thanet Parkway from the south is ridiculously poor. Making the only access from a dual carriageway simply increases the traffic as users have to make much longer journeys. Access should obviously have been from a roundabout and it is not clear why this could not have been done. Roundabouts often have five exits elsewhere.
What a complete waste of KCC & TDC money, a completely unnecessary expenditure that does nothing for the local economy, but tweaks the ego of the elected councillors. You can wait 5 years for an assessment of your child due to a lack of budget, but money can be wasted on this white elephant, because it is a different budget. The sad thing is all councillors end up singing from the same hymn sheets be they blue, red , green or yellow, or the independents who have fallen out with their previous colleagues.
Here’s a song by Ian Dury
” What A Waste” https://youtu.be/ZmopROxBnBU
British transport police will be available at busy times and late nights I’m sure?
The Government has plans for the whole area I’m sure, Trains, Boats, and Planes.
That’s why there will be a Manston Airport again regardless of who opposes it. 🙂
Now that Thanet Parkway Station is open I went to have a look on its first day. Aside from the for and against arguments here are my observations. There are no toilets anywhere on the station. No scheduled bus service. There are no CCTV cameras in the Cycle/Foot Path from Clive Road, There are three posts for them but no cameras. Trees previously planted as part of the landscaping are now dead, missing or vandalised. There is no ‘No Pedestrian’ sign to warn pedestrians (or cyclists) not to venture onto the bypass. There is a footpath sign directing you through the underpass to the opposite platform but the path stops at the station lift. A concrete path continues but further access is prevented by a locked gate. There is no other official pedestrian access from the south side. The lifts had large clear windows which were reassuring and a panic button low near the floor should anyone collapse. Plus points, I got a free goodie bag from SE Trains.
The new station will benefit commuters with cars who want a hassle free journey and can park up without any problems. Over time the station will become busier as planned housing developments take shape. For Thanet Council this has been a £2m bargain as parking issues in Ramsgate and other areas are improved while nearby road infrastructure has been added and upgraded.
£4.70 for a five minute journey to Ramsgate, are they mad?