Agenda item

Mr Dafydd Pugh (Head of Brussels Office, KCC) and Mr Stephen Gasche (Principal Transport Planner, Rail, KCC) were in attendance for this item.

1.      Mr Pugh briefly presented the Brussels Office which is a part of the International Affairs Group. There is a team of three, two Kent County Council (KCC) employees and one student:  the office has a close connection with the University of Kent and each year welcomed a student from the university to work with them.  The team’s work is closely linked to KCC’s corporate priorities. Business planning reflects priorities that were set out to implement the international strategy and these included not only policy development and influence but also the need to focus on links with business and provide more support for project development. In this latter respect, the team in Brussels have become actively involved in supporting KCC colleagues not only in setting up projects but also in their actual delivery.

2.      Mr Gasche had worked with Mr Pugh and his team for 3 years and one of their current EU-funded projects was the Regions of Connected Knowledge (RoCK) Project. KCC’s involvement is two-fold: one part looks at how to provide an improved rail service between Ebbsfleet, Ashford and Europe. The other part of the RoCK Project is a sub-project called the Ashford Spurs which looks at resignalling a short stretch of track so new-build international trains can serve Ashford. This is key to Ashford retaining international connectivity. 

3.      The Chairman asked Mr Pugh and Mr Gasche to present the Regions of Connected Knowledge Project in more detail.  

4.      Mr Pugh explained the background to KCC’s involvement in the project. KCC has had a close interest in international rail services in the County since the Channel Tunnel was opened in 1994. When Eurostar decided to reduce services from Ashford International Station in the mid-2000s, KCC’s Brussels Office, which had been part of the campaign to retain services, worked with the Brussels office liaising with French colleagues to maintain the service from Ashford. International rail appeared within the Council’s ‘Growth without Gridlock’ transport vision for the next 20 years. 

5.      Mr Gasche explained that part one of the RoCK project’s look at rail services between Kent and Europe had investigated if a stand-alone inter-regional rail service was viable. Stage two looked at scenarios and timetable options that would allow Eurostar to provide better connections between Kent Stations and the continent.  This was work in progress and the next meeting of the RoCK partners was due in May 2014.  Eurostar had been reticent about the plans but Mr Pugh and Mr Gasche had a good working relationship with Eurostar officers.  Members considered that the ability to influence went hand in hand with the ability to secure European funding. 

6.      In response to a question about why the signalling problems at Ashford had arisen, Mr Gasche explained that, when the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL) was planned, the original route through Ashford was routed  to the northern side of the station. Connecting tracks called spurs therefore had to be built at either end of the station to allow international trains to serve Ashford.  These spurs were equipped with UK domestic signalling equipment and this is different to the signalling used on high speed lines. In the future, new international trains will be required to have international standard signalling fitted rather than the UK domestic systems and so any new trains would not be able to access Ashford International. An upgrade is therefore required to the signalling. 

7.      During the first phase of the Ashford-spurs sub-project, consultants have recommended that Level 1 of the European Train Control System, known as ETCS, should be fitted. The 2^nd phase of the Ashford Spurs project is the detailed development stage. Funding of £100,000 had already been committed but there was still a funding gap of £160,000 and two alternative funding options were being explored.  These were through Network Rail and through a European lead at the Department for Transport.  It was essential to meet the funding gap and officers were confident that further funding would be forthcoming. 

8.      Phase 3 was the implementation stage which was currently unfunded but was being developed.

9.      Mr Pugh explained that the work at Ashford was a good example of where KCC’s policy priorities were being strengthened through European work.

10.Members considered that the key to effective transport links was regularity, accessibility and reliability. The Select Committee was solidly supportive of the Ashford Spurs project. 

11.In response to a question, Mr Pugh confirmed that all of the MEPs that he had spoken to were supportive of trains stopping at Ashford; there was support for connectivity out of Kent to Europe. 

12.The Chairman of the Select Committee reiterated that what had been achieved so far with international rail could not have been achieved without the support of the French and vice versa. This illustrated the benefits to KCC and Kent of partners working together. 

13.Mr Marsh set out some of the reasons why these circumstances had arisen, it was considered that Eurostar was focussed on gaining the shortest journey time to their European destination and there were advantages in time saved by not stopping at Ebbsfleet and Ashford. It was necessary to work with Eurostar to ensure that there is a system that worked and could be financed. Particularly with the overriding message of Sustainable Green Transport; this was an important issue which should be taken up by Kent’s International Group.

14.Mr Daley commented that this was not only about receiving money from Europe, it was necessary to have the support of the Department for Transport. 

15.Mr Gasche explained that these issues should ideally have been picked up earlier and included in the Control Period 5 Settlement and a meeting was due to be held with the Department for Transport later in January 2014.

16.In response to a question about the implications of not undertaking this work Mr Gasche explained that firstly, the existing service at Ashford would begin to be run down as new stock on the Paris route was used. By 2020 there was concern that Ashford would cease to have links with Paris. The other important point was that Deutsche Bahn had aspirations to link Frankfurt and Cologne via Brussels to London. They were also open to the future possibility of a stop in Kent and this could not be at Ashford if this project was not completed.

17.Mr Pugh explained that the UK Government had recently put its stake in Eurostar up for sale and KCC might have views on which prospective bidders might also best represent the interests of Kent.

18.The Chairman then asked Mr Pugh for a brief overview of other work being carried out in Brussels. Mr Pugh explained that staff were currently working with the Education Directorate on projects related to the Great War and the concept of extended schools. They were also working with Families and Social Care on the use of assistive technologies in health and social care provision. He also explained that they continue to maintain close links with UK Government representatives in Belgium to explore opportunities for promoting Kent further.