From Dart Charge to Eurostar, why is Kent getting short-changed on …

Despite being the Gateway to Europe and sitting at the junction of numerous internationally-significant transport routes, Kent still suffers from more than its fair share of issues when it comes to travel by road, rail and sea.^[1]

These are the major areas where, according to reporter Rhys Griffiths, our county is still being short-changed when it comes to our transport links.

The Dartford Crossing… why are we still paying for it?

In many ways we are pretty blessed when it comes to transport. We are linked to the continent by railway and ferry, we have a well-developed road network and the county is criss-crossed by train lines – including the country’s only domestic high-speed rail service.

But there are still many areas where, it could be argued, we are getting a raw deal. These are the big questions that still need to be answered.

Why are we still paying the Dart Charge?

Built at a cost of £120m and officially opened by Her Majesty in October 1991, the Queen Elizabeth II bridge at Dartford^[2] plays a vital role in keeping traffic flowing across the Thames between Kent^[3] and Essex.

In 1999, the incumbent Labour government committed to scrapping the tolls by 2003, as the cost of construction of the bridge would have been met. However, this promise was later broken, and the fee for crossing – now known as the Dart Charge – was finally made permanent in 2019 and remains in place to this day.

The rationale behind the charge has changed, where once it was levied as a way of meeting the costs to construction, today it is maintained as a means of reducing demand.

Commenting on the decision to make the charge permanent, the RAC’s head of roads policy said: “Drivers who use the Dartford Crossing are likely to feel short-changed considering the cost of construction has since been paid back. Our view is that tolls should be reviewed and, if affordable, abolished completely.”

Delays leading up to the Dartford Crossing. Library picture: National Highways

It is a view shared by many, and a 2019 petition calling for the promise to scrap the charges to be upheld was signed by more than 28,000 people.

In response, the Conservative government said: “The Dartford charge is not a toll to pay for the infrastructure but a charge the government has set at levels which manage demand. The Crossing was designed to handle up to 135,000 vehicle movements each day, but currently it is not uncommon for 160,000 to occur. Research undertaken in 2001 into the impacts of lifting the tolls indicated that traffic volumes could rise by 17 per cent.”

With the Dart Charge bringing in more than £200m in some recent years, it seems unlikely we will see the advent of toll-free crossings any time soon.

Has the dream of international rail travel from Kent died?

In the earliest weeks and months of the Covid-19 pandemic, it really did feel like the world had changed for good. With strict lockdown restrictions in place and demand for travel decimated, Eurostar faced little choice but to dramatically scale back its international rail timetable.

Ashford International has been left without international rail services

But people in Kent hoping to take the train to the Continent for business or leisure could have had little idea that, more than three years later, we would still be waiting in vain for Eurostar services to return to our so-called ‘international’ stations in Ashford^[4] and Ebbsfleet^[5]. Today we are told these will not be restored until 2025 at the earliest – but many fear they are realistically gone for good.

This has rightly irked many who feel we were promised a future of greater connectivity to and from Europe, when the high-speed rail link was built through the Kent countryside and serious investment was made in stations designed to serve these trains linking us to Paris, Brussels and beyond.

Almost 30,000 people have now signed an online petition demanding the restoration of our Eurostar services, and political leaders in the county are adding their voices to the campaign.

Ashford, which was promised greater opportunities for economic development on the back of its international station, is one of the communities most affected by the decision to suspend these rail links indefinitely.

Ashford Borough Council leader Cllr Noel Ovenden

Council leader Noel Ovenden has told KentOnline the absence of Eurostar services is a “real challenge” for residents and businesses in the area^[6].

“The services at Ashford International station are not only important for existing businesses and travellers, they are also important for our future commercial investments,” he said earlier this summer. “There was a public outcry when Eurostar made their initial announcement and the local strength of feeling is clearly reflected by recent meetings and the petition that has been launched.”

Unfortunately the British government’s ability to intervene has been significantly hampered by the fact it no longer holds a share in the company. The Treasury sold the government’s stake in the rail operator for £757.1m, hailing it as a “fantastic deal” in 2015.

No international trains currently call at Ebbsfleet International railway station. Picture: Nick Johnson

Eurostar says it understands the situation is “disappointing for the local communities” but can offer no guarantees as to when – or even if – we will see international rail services return to Kent. In the meantime anyone wishing to travel to the continent by train faces the frustration of having to travel to St Pancras before retracing their route back through the county to the Channel Tunnel in Folkestone^[7].

Is the M20 destined to remain a stand-by lorry park forever?

Before the upheaval of the pandemic, the most significant question facing the government was the exit of the United Kingdom from the European Union. For Kent, as perhaps the most important trade route between Britain and the Continent, this meant serious planning for how to keep traffic moving freely to and from the Channel ports.

Operation Brock on the M20 motorway

This is how we came to know – and not love – the Operation Brock contraflow on the M20. A moveable barrier was installed as means for turning parts of the motorway between Junctions 8 and 9 into a temporary lorry park, where freight bound for the Port of Dover and Eurotunnel can be held during periods of disruption and delay. It also means other road users have to obey 50mph speed limits, impacting local travel too.

The danger is that, unless some other viable alternative can be identified, this will cease to be a temporary fix initially designed to smooth our exit from the EU and become a permanent fact of life on Kent’s roads.

And it is not just local motorists who would love to see an end to Brock. The haulage industry is also demanding the government come up with a more suitable alternative.

Nichola Mallon, head of trade and devolved policy at Logistics UK, has said: “While the implementation of Operation Brock can help the flow of traffic during peak periods, it disrupts the flow of vehicles – and goods – to and from the Continent and its implementation does not take into account the needs of drivers, who can be stuck in their cabs or cars for hours on end with no food or access to hygiene facilities.

“Leaving vehicles idling at the side of the motorway causes delays and disruption to supply chains, increases operating costs for importers and exporters and will ultimately deter businesses from sending their vehicles to the UK. Our members need a long-term solution to crossing the UK’s borders which keeps freight moving freely, rather than the on again, off again Brock scheme.”

Will Dover continue to suffer from the impact of port traffic?

Operation Brock may be part of the wider efforts to keep the county moving, but for many people living and working much closer to the Port of Dover^[8] there is still not enough being done.

Lorries queuing along the A20 towards Dover

Frustrated shop owners have told KentOnline^[9] they feel they are being “held hostage” by regular disruption caused by traffic at the port – which they say is costing them vital trade.

The main way in which highways authorities attempt to alleviate this issue is through the deployment of the Dover Traffic Assessment Project – known more commonly as the Dover TAP. This is a separate system to Brock, which sees port-bound traffic queued on the A20 after Folkestone so lorries heading to the ferries can be managed in a bid to spare Dover^[10] town centre from gridlock.

But it is not a perfect solution, with some traders saying they still notice a drop in footfall whenever TAP is deployed. Robin Burkhardt, who owns the Old Curiosity Shop in Snargate Street, says repeated delays mean customers often cannot reach his store because of queuing lorries blocking the road^[11].

Lorries queuing along the A20 towards Dover

“Twice in 18 months I haven’t been able to physically get to the shop so I couldn’t even open it,” he said. “The lorries block the entrance to Snargate Street and locals know when there is trouble at the port so they won’t stay local, they’ll go to Canterbury^[12]. The port is the worst neighbour anyone can have.”

He has started a petition calling for a better solution to be found – but given the need for thousands upon thousands of lorries to reach the port each week, it remains hard to see how locals will not continue to suffer whenever there is disruption to cross-Channel traffic.

Can we be expected to ditch the car when so many bus routes are being cut?

Despite a concerted effort to get people out of their cars, which has included a government initiative to cap single bus fares at £2, the axe continues to be taken to the county’s bus network.

Bus routes are being cut back across the county

Just this week it was confirmed by Stagecoach that 11 bus routes in east Kent are set to be either reduced or cut completely in the latest round of cost-savings. And earlier this summer it was announced a number of Kent villages would be left without any bus connections whatsoever.

Announcing its latest cuts in Folkestone, Dover, Hythe^[13] and the surrounding areas, Stagecoach blamed a significant post-pandemic decline in passenger numbers.

A spokesman for the bus firm said: “We will always aim to bring buses to as many people as possible, but with rising costs and fewer passengers, we must review and adapt our network to ensure we are providing a sustainable and commercially viable network to protect our core connections. By making these changes now we hope to secure the long-term sustainability of bus services for the local community.”

KentOnline visited Wye^[14] to speak to residents who were shocked to learn earlier this summer that the numbers 1, 1A and 1X buses will no longer serve their village^[15].

“It is going to be awful,” said Hazel Czarecki, who does not drive so relies on buses to get out and about. “Not everyone has a car and there are a lot of elderly people who rely on the buses. I cannot walk to the station and I am on my own, so how do you get around?”

Cllr David Brazier

The continuing cuts to the bus network comes at a time when Cllr David Brazier, Kent County Council’s cabinet member for roads and transport, has admitted that “where possible” the highways department is not “looking to amend the network to accommodate more cars”.

An ambition for more “active travel” – walking or cycling to you and me – may be laudable, but public transport is the only alternative for many journeys. If we want to tackle congestion without building more roads, then buses will need more investment rather than constant cutbacks.

Will we ever find ourselves jetting off on our holidays from Kent airports?

If buses are the stuff of day-to-day life, then airports are the places where many jet off on their holidays once or twice a year. And there have always been ambitions to make passenger flights from the county a reality – and make the trek to London airports a thing of the past.

There are long-standing ambitions to bring passenger flights back to Manston Airport

Putting to one side Boris Johnson’s ill-fated dreams of a major hub in the Thames estuary, its been Lydd and Manston airports in the east of the county which have been consistently in the frame for expansion and the introduction of passenger flights.

Plans for Manston^[16] remain grounded due to ongoing legal wrangling, and the touted return of regular routes from Lydd^[17] – for example to the French resort of Le Touquet – has yet to materialise.

There is no doubt that Kent benefits from some of the best transport infrastructure in the country, but there remains a long way to go before we can say it is truly being used to its greatest capability. And, as with so much in life, many of these questions will come down to a matter of money: how much there is to spend, and where we choose to prioritise it.

References

1. ^{^} Kent (www.kentonline.co.uk)
2. ^{^} Dartford (www.kentonline.co.uk)
3. ^{^} Kent (www.kentonline.co.uk)
4. ^{^} Ashford (www.kentonline.co.uk)
5. ^{^} Ebbsfleet (www.kentonline.co.uk)
6. ^{^} the absence of Eurostar services is a “real challenge” for residents and businesses in the area (www.kentonline.co.uk)
7. ^{^} Folkestone (www.kentonline.co.uk)
8. ^{^} Dover (www.kentonline.co.uk)
9. ^{^} KentOnline (www.kentonline.co.uk)
10. ^{^} Dover (www.kentonline.co.uk)
11. ^{^} says repeated delays mean customers often cannot reach his store because of queuing lorries blocking the road (www.kentonline.co.uk)
12. ^{^} Canterbury (www.kentonline.co.uk)
13. ^{^} Hythe (www.kentonline.co.uk)
14. ^{^} Wye (www.kentonline.co.uk)
15. ^{^} who were shocked to learn earlier this summer that the numbers 1, 1A and 1X buses will no longer serve their village (www.kentonline.co.uk)
16. ^{^} Manston (www.kentonline.co.uk)
17. ^{^} Lydd (www.kentonline.co.uk)