By Local Democracy Reporter Simon Finlay
The cost of a controversial £44m rail project is set to soar “substantially” and the county’s taxpayers will pick up the tab, new papers have revealed.
The Thanet Parkway Station scheme opened officially at the end of July, 13 years after the scheme was first conceived.
But it has come under fire for low passenger numbers and costs which have quadrupled from the original £11m estimate.
Kent County Council (KCC) member for Thanet Cllr Barry Lewis said the authority must “come clean” to taxpayers about the true price tag.
The council is likely to be liable for future costs including CCTV, particularly after security at the station had to be stepped up last August due to issues with antisocial driving around the car park, and archaeological works.
The Labour member is asking KCC officials for clarity when the issue comes before the scrutiny committee on Wednesday (November 1).
Papers to go before the KCC scrutiny committee reveal: “There remain substantial costs associated with this scheme that are yet to be spent which KCC will need to fund (unless further external funding sources are secured).
“Future direct KCC spend includes further archaeological evaluation work required by planning, junction retention costs, CCTV costs, Land Compensation Act costs, and other costs associated with additional signage and improvements to the car park.
“The forecast also includes additional costs being charged by Network Rail.”
There is no indication of cost attached to these works in the KCC report.
However, The Isle of Thanet News previously reported a further spend of £48.6k is being made for a Thanet Parkway cost review and report commissioned by Kent County Council and being carried out by West Midlands based Sable Leigh Consultancy. That report is due to be completed by next February.
County Councillor Karen Constantine says she has also had confirmation that £30,000 will be spent installing 38 speed bumps across Parkway car park to stop nuisance drivers.
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 and the cost review report)
The papers say that 200 passenger trips a day are made using the station which is “already half the number […] forecast in the business case by the end of year one”.
According to the documents, KCC has contributed more than £7m of the £40m total so far (to 2022/23). The papers say the council is committed to contributions of “up to £17.81m”.
But Cllr Lewis dismissed many of the claims in the report written by Joseph Ratcliffe, KCC’s Transport Strategy, as “total nonsense and spin”.
He added: “The fact that no one seems to know or is unwilling to say how much these extra costs will be, indicates to me there is a big problem.
“It quotes 200 passenger trips per day but most of them will be return journeys so the actual number of people using the station every day is only about half that.”
Supporters of the project say in time new housing will push the numbers up and argue it was important to put transport infrastructure in place first.
While 200 passenger trips are made via Thanet Parkway daily, 2,700 journeys are taken via nearby Ramsgate station.
The KCC report said that “poor accessibility” in east Kent is a critical barrier to inward investment, undermining the potential for regeneration and jobs.
It adds: “Thanet Parkway station addresses these issues by capitalising on the High Speed 1 services and the Journey Time Improvement (JTI) scheme, which together will bring Thanet to around one hour’s journey time of London, thereby improving the perception of east Kent as a place for investment, especially at nearby business parks such as Discovery Park.”
Thanet Parkway has two 250m platforms taking 12-car trains, and offers services into St Pancras International via Ashford International in 70 minutes.
The station boasts lifts and stairs to access the platforms, ticket machines, waiting shelters, acoustic barriers and almost 300 parking spaces for 293 vehicles.
Additional reporting Kathy Bailes
