I see from the Gazette that Paul Carter is talking up the Parkway train station for the 4,000 passengers that use Manston each year.
Has anyone told him that Flybe, the much trumpeted return of part-time scheduled flights to Manston, have bailed after one poor summer?
Unless of course he expects the bananas, mangoes and fake fags that currently come through the airport to start catching the train.
I am sure that the current users of trains from the Thanet Towns will be impressed with his suggestion of a parkway station which will mean a reduced service to Ramsgate, Broadstairs and Margate from its current level - and thats normal trains as well as the 'high speed'. Plus it means more people will be forced into cars to drive the the new parkway station instead of walking to your local one. Brilliant idea.
Oh, all those living in Canterbury - Paul also suggests that trains from London don't need to stop there so the 20-odd flights worth of passengers can we whisked through in record time.
Is Paul Carter really that stupid? Does he not realise the cost of a ticket to Thanet from London against a ticket to Stansted/Luton/Gatwick? Does he understand the constraints of a single track line and the inability of trains to 'overtake' each other on it? Is he aware that the speed restrictions are down to the "third rail" system we operate south of the river, and the "Thanet in an hour" trains he talks about are impossible to achieve?
Hopefully, someone bought him Monopoly for Christmas which will stop him from wasting OUR paid for resources on this private enterprise (and betting on failing Icelandic banks).
17 comments:
Now Steve, I was at the breakfast meeting where Paul talked about Manston Parkway and I can assure you the points were quite clear. This is an attempt to get government to invest to bring the high speed rail link 2 stops further, to Canterbury and Manston Parkway. That could achieve a 58 minute trip to London St Pancras from Manston stopping at Canterbury, Ashford, and presumably, Ebbsfleet or Sratford.
Whilst I appreciate you are anti airport, I know you are pro train, and high speed link, and a Manston Parkway could as easily serve housing and new industrial parks as it could an airport. Indeed from your point of view, using the airport to get the infrastructure, and then finding it has other uses would seem to be a fine solution, as you feel the airport cannot succeed. Or is your fear that properly serviced the airport could succeed, and your tactic has to be to freeze it out rather than anything else?
It's a wonderful idea - create a central Thanet Parkway station. It will be close to Cliffsend. Anyone else will need to drive there as no houses can built within walking distance as its next to an airport.
So all those current Broadstairs, Ramsgate commuters who walk to a station will be forced into cars to get to the new parkway station.
I am all for change that benefits the whole of Thanet, but a parkway station superseding existing stations brings no upside for the vast majority of people.
I also live in the real world. Do you honestly think that a high speed upgrade on the stour valley line will be prioritised over, say high speed 2, or the electrification of the great western line to service an airport that will not carry 6,000 passengers this year?
The most that will happen is that KCC will spunk £7,000,000 of our money on a station in the middle of a field that degrades the existing train service.
I give you a couple of final thought on the subject as you and Lord Carter obviously have not - the cost of a day return ticket to Thanet currently costs £61, at least double the cost of tickets to Stansted, Heathrow, Luton, Gatwick. Add that to the longest journey time by about 30 minutes to any of those airports. Can you see travellers abandoning those airports with such 'benefits' in using Manston?
Finally, only 30% of passengers at any of those airports use trains to reach their destinations. The rest come by mainly car or taxi, and Infratil see no reason why Manston should be different. Manston is and always will be 75-odd miles from the majority of London travellers. That's quite a bit further that all of the others.
A "properly" serviced manston still has a huge competitive disadvantage to bigger, nearer, cheaper to get to airports offering vastly superior services and flying to more destinations. If Infratil want to waste cash on this that is their call. KCC and TDC using public funds/time to have continuous effort on this folly is an abhorrent waste of our money.
If the airport site were to be re-used for a large scale mixed use development such as Kings Hill, it makes sense to put a parkway there, but for the airport - not worth it for the reasons I have posted here.
Your thoughts on the points I have raised would be greatly appreciated.
That'll be the same Paul Carter who has generously offered KCC's money to foot half the bill for the night flight consultation. That couldn't possibly be because he is so heavily invested in getting the "right" outcome, could it? I'm sure he won't want in any way to influence what questions are asked; how they are asked; of whom they are asked....no, it'll just be philanthropy on his part that has prompted him to dig into the coffers.
does Chris Wells or Paul Carter, or any other supporter of "high speeding" the line from Ashford to Manston realise that the umpteen level crossings will severely hamper the speed of a train regardless of the improvements made? Can you envisage the closure of any of the crossings? Sturry for example? Or building a new track to divert around said crssings and the huge expense this would incurr? To get to an airport currently serving 5,000 passengers? Get in the real world gentlemen. Perhaps you could start with getting roads and pavements gritted and bins collected more than once in a blue mooon before moving onto more difficult matters.
Steve: and of course...Ebbsfleet Station was built slap bang next to a major town..NOT. You have to drive there too, and it is further in he sticks than Manston is to Margate, Ramsgate etc
.....next to greenhithe, bluewater, northfleet, swanscombe, in the Thames gateway development area, ingress park plus the two further developments pencilled in for old blue circle cement land, next the the a2/m25 as a south east hub for trains to the continent with parking for a few thousand.
Hardly the sticks....,,,,
And ebbsfleet is designed to cater for travellers to the continent from south/east of London to avoid the trek to ashford or st pancras. Serviced by roads plus the virtual tram buslink which had dedicated roads all over the dartford area.
Manston parkway will be for Thanet which is perfectly serviced by 7(?) stations and an airport which had no scheduled flights.
If the airport were to be developed into something useful, it may be worthwhile.
I see the Loony has not posted about the CEO and Business Development Manager departing Manston.
What a sad little man Mr. Carter looks in his profile picture doom and gloom
You'll soon be able to do away with your 'no departures or arrivals' section of your site ;-)
As I predicted last week, Flybe announces daily flights :)
Oh the last two remarks must be about this coming Mondays PR stunt at KIA with a major announcement by KIA!!!!
You heard it first here on SMEG folks.
I bet the Spongebob square pants do, at Smyths on Monday, will be more exciting and probably briefer as well...geddit!!
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