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Call for better train links to cope with Gatwick’s expansion plans andy@timesoftonbridge.co.uk THERE have been widespread demands for improvements to the Southern rail service from the town in response to Gatwick’s expansion proposals. According to its ‘master plan’ the airport aims to increase the numbers who use it by a third to 61million by 2032. The Sussex hub wants to run the existing runway more intensively, and also make use of the emergency runway for smaller aircraft ‘in routine use’. Tonbridge & Malling District Council responded to the consultation by calling for a direct train service between the town and Gatwick via Redhill. This would improve access to the airport for people from Kent travelling from there – or working at the site.
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MAKING HAY An artist’s impression of planned development at Haysden. Story, page 2
By Andy Tong
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Wednesday February 6 | 2019
It would also help to alleviate the decline in air quality caused by more people driving to catch their flights. Since 2008, local rail passengers going to Gatwick have had to change at Redhill or travel up to London first.
“This commitment does fall disappointingly short of our aspirations’ Council Leader Nicolas Heslop Under rail operator Govia Thameslink Railway’s [GTR] forthcoming Southern agreement there will be trains from Tonbridge to Redhill every half-hour. Nicolas Heslop, the council’s Leader, said ‘this commitment does fall disappointingly short of our aspirations’. “The master plan should be a catalyst
CHANGES will be made to the newly configured junction outside the railway station after the triple crossing caused confusion. There are concerns about the safety of schoolchildren who congregate in the area. Drivers have also complained of congestion backing up to Vale Road and Pembury Road roundabouts. Kent County Council [KCC] Highways has issued a warning about the conduct of pedestrians. It said: “It is very clear that the majority of pedestrians heading towards the station are crossing Waterloo Road without taking due care for their safety.
Frustrated
to secure infrastructure funding to directly connect the airport to West Kent by rail, to ease the overreliance upon our strategic and local road network for airport related journeys,” he said. “Frequent and continuous rail connections from Tonbridge would prevent passengers having to change platforms at Redhill, and thus avoiding the inconvenience and delay of hauling luggage between connecting services.” Citing the airport’s proposed £46.5million contribution to wider transport and noise mitigation measures, he also calls for ‘improved modal interchange [between different forms of transport] and connectivity at Tonbridge station’. Local MP Tom Tugendhat wrote to Stewart Wingate, chief executive of Gatwick Airport Limited, last month.
“This is particularly true of the schoolchildren, who are crossing with little regard to the vehicles who now have right of way. “Not only is safety an issue here but it prevents traffic from progressing even on a green light for them, leading to frustrated drivers and congestion on the system.” The roadworks were completed last month. The state-of-the-art signals are designed to adjust their timings depending on the flow of both traffic and pedestrians. But when the junction becomes blocked the signals reset back to their ‘worst case’ setting and stay on red longer than necessary. To counteract this KCC will be installing yellow box markings in the junction to deter drivers from entering the junction without a clear exit, and will adjust some of the signal heads to help.
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