Agenda item

(Report by Head of Transport and Development)

(1)     A partnership led by Kent Highway Services had recently made a successful bid to participate in a National Rail Station Travel Plan Pilot. The Rail White Paper proposed that station travel plans be tested through a series of pilots, and ATOC was co-ordinating the pilot projects on behalf of the Department for Transport (DfT). Ashford station was selected as one of 24 successful applications across England out of a total of 70 bids. Bids for Canterbury West and Folkestone Central/West were unfortunately not successful but it was hoped that lessons learnt from the pilot would enable best practice to be rolled out to these and other stations across the county.

(2)     The report was to make members aware of the Ashford Station Travel Plan project which would develop good practice in improving integration and enhancing access to the station as well as reducing the impact of increased rail travel on the local road network. It was timely given forecast increased demand from the introduction of High Speed Rail Services from 2009. It also had the potential to complement short to medium term infrastructure improvements led by the HST Task Force and linked to Ashford’s Future.

(3)     The National Passenger Survey (NPS) showed that walking was the most popular means of accessing the station, with other public transport (underground, rail, bus/coach) also having a high share. Car travel accounted for 21% of passengers, while cycling had a marginal share at 1.7%. Station Travel Plans had the following potential benefits:-

·               increased passenger numbers, particularly in the off-peak (surveys had shown, many people were deterred from travelling by rail because the station car park was full)

·               more sustainable travel to the station would reduce emissions and benefit the environment

·               passengers who switched modes or shared a car would save on car park fees and fuel

·               reduced congestion around the station would reduce journey times for everyone

(4)     Ashford Station was on the edge of Ashford town centre, about 600 metres walk from the south eastern corner, and a 5 minute walk from the McArthur Glen shopping centre. As the junction of several railway lines, it offered a frequent service to London via Tonbridge or Maidstone to the North, Canterbury, Margate and Ramsgate to the East, Folkestone and Dover to the South and Hastings through to Brighton to the West.  There was a fair amount of rail-heading from a wide catchment area, including many rural villages. The station also provided an important geographic link between the town centre (to the north-east) and the Designer Outlet retail park (to the south) which had implications for public transport, walking and cycling provision.

(5)     The introduction of Domestic Services on High Speed 1 (HS1) in December 2009 would reinforce the importance of Ashford station for domestic users, and it was expected that there would be growth for all modes of transport including rail-heading. The planned expansion of the town would increase the population from approximately 60,000 to 135,000 by 2029 and would also increase demand for services significantly.

(6)     Southeastern had carried out forecast studies from now until 2014, during this period there was a predicted increase of 46% in footfall at Ashford Station. Footfall in 2006/2007 was 2,432,484, by 2010/2011 this was predicted to grow to 3,227,963 and by 2013/14 footfall was predicted to be 3,543,496, an extra 1,111,012 passengers a year.

(7)     Forecast growth would put significant pressures on the infrastructure at the station.  With this in mind and also taking into account passenger satisfaction surveys, Ashford Station had been included on the National Station Improvement Programme, (NSIP) and £1.2m was in the budget to improve facilities for customers on the station lease area. These longer term plans would look to enlarge the station building, improve customer waiting areas and customer information, as well as toilets, lighting etc.  Southeastern and Network Rail were working with both KCC and ABC to improve facilities at and around the station and to integrate the station with the town by providing improved bus facilities, an improved taxi waiting area and greater segregation from car traffic.

(8)     To be included in the pilot programme, the Ashford Station partnership led by Kent Highway Services, in conjunction with Southeastern Trains and Ashford’s Future had been asked to agree to the following:-

·               Baseline data and monitoring to be carried out during the Autumn of 2008

·               Commitment of financial and staff resources for the projects’ duration

·               Evaluation and production of regular reports to enable the dissemination of lessons learned and good best practice.

(9)     In return for signing up to the conditions, pilot stations could expect to receive:-

·               A financial contribution to the pilot (likely to be for research elements of the work)

·               Support from other pilot sites and the Steering Group

·               Positive publicity for their company / organisation

(10)   A Kick Off Conference for the successful projects would be held on 23 July and following that the project was expecting to follow a timeline as set out in Appendix A of the report.

(11)   The National Rail Station Travel Pilot provided an exciting opportunity for Kent to participate in a national initiative to promote sustainable travel to rail stations. The development of the Travel Plan and supporting initiatives would assist the sustainable expansion of commuter rail travel in Kent as a result of the new HS1 services. It was intended that best practice be rolled out to other stations in due course.

(12)   The Board noted the report.