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Thanet Parkway updates
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vic-rijrode
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- 31 Aug 2016
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- 440
I'll be 194 next week.
I think I meant the reporting of such celebrations perhaps.
Enthusiast
Established Member
- Joined
- 18 Mar 2019
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- 1,226
NSEWonderer
Established Member
Station opens tomorrow I believe. Terrible platform design and station imo. Honestly still wonder what the need for it was over the money being spent to improve stations like Lewisham.
Seems to also slow the Vic fast services.
Pic by SE of ThanetParkway Station lower level.
Seems to also slow the Vic fast services.
Pic by SE of ThanetParkway Station lower level.
BluePenguin
On Moderation
I am at Ramsgate now waiting for the first train to call at the station
NSEWonderer
Established Member
Dedication
BluePenguin
On Moderation
Oh absolutely! Been awake since 3am. Nice to hear the new announcement onboardDedication
Photo proof attached
Attachments
NSEWonderer
Established Member
Haha well that's even more surprisingly that even the HS1 runners don't escape Thanet.Oh absolutely! Been awake since 3am. Nice to hear the new announcement onboard
Photo proof attached
Trainguy34
Established Member
Im Suprised at the hourly service, I was expecting the Charing X to Ramsgate via Canterbury to stop as if you want minster or sandwich, you have to go via Ramsgate. Unfortunately I'm going to butlins today so can't visit it today but I live semi-locally so will have more chances luckily.
zwk500
Veteran Member
Housing development in the area, which needs connectivity to London and wouldn't be served by improvements to Lewisham.
== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==
Think the service via Canterbury is planned to stop once the improvements to the Ashford-Minster line is completed because they need to claw back the time added in by the extra stop. Open to correction on that point though.
I’ve got a mate who lives in Dover and he’s been moaning at me that trains from there don’t stop at Parkway either
He’d like to take his bike on the train and cycle into Pegwell or Manston apparently
It will be interesting to see what they do do. It’s main purpose is to get people in and out of London as quickly as possible - while providing them with somewhere to park their car
Just not sure how much “local traffic”
there will be
Islineclear3_1
Established Member
What are these improvements please?
BluePenguin
On Moderation
True lol
== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==
The only services that have called at Thanet Parkway all day are 395s via Canterbury West running to and from Margate. Nothing heading to Sandwich has called.
Every Electrostar has passed though non stop.
zwk500
Veteran Member
I don't have the detail, but AIUI there is a programme of small changes between Ashford and Sturry to recover the time and avoid the need to rewrite Ramsgate for the additional time taken to stop at Thanet parkway.
There was also a couple of Level Crossing changes near Thanet Parkway itself.
I had got slightly confused by the initial reports, the services heading via Canterbury West are stopping, and so the updates are either complete or in hand. I have no knowledge of any plans to stop Dover trains (although this has absolutely no bearing on whether or not there are any plans, I have only had a passing involvement in the station).
What about the peak Charing Cross services?
zwk500
Veteran Member
Appear to stop today: https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/se...23-07-31/0000-2359?stp=WVS&show=all&order=wtt
(Link to RTT page showing All-day service to/from St Pancras and Peak only service to Charing Cross via Canterbury West.)
BluePenguin
On Moderation
From the looks of things, they are supposed to also stop, although I didn’t notice any and I was there most of the day
I went through but not stopping at Parkway today
The trains that go in that direction from Ramsgate for quite a bit of the day are
02 St Pancras via Canterbury West stopping at Parkway
07 St Pancras via Dover not stopping
12 Slow train to London via Minster etc not stopping
I was on the 12.07 which was on time. We were behind the 12.02 (also on time) and we frankly crawled along until nearly at Sandwich. The bit nearer to Sandwich has always been slow
We were three minutes late at Deal which was of no consequence to me as I was meeting a mate for lunch
Maybe teething problems or issues with level crossings. Someone with greater knowledge than me will probably know
Guess somewhere (ahem) down the line they may need to look at the timings
I am on the 11.12 tomorrow so we’ll see what happens. Coming back we steamed right through and were on time at Ramsgate
The trains that go in that direction from Ramsgate for quite a bit of the day are
02 St Pancras via Canterbury West stopping at Parkway
07 St Pancras via Dover not stopping
12 Slow train to London via Minster etc not stopping
I was on the 12.07 which was on time. We were behind the 12.02 (also on time) and we frankly crawled along until nearly at Sandwich. The bit nearer to Sandwich has always been slow
We were three minutes late at Deal which was of no consequence to me as I was meeting a mate for lunch
Maybe teething problems or issues with level crossings. Someone with greater knowledge than me will probably know
Guess somewhere (ahem) down the line they may need to look at the timings
I am on the 11.12 tomorrow so we’ll see what happens. Coming back we steamed right through and were on time at Ramsgate
The only purpose of it appears to be to facilitate new housing, which is well in progress judging by Google Maps.
It seems pointless as a P&R as the roads go to Ramsgate beach, up the western edge of Ramsgate, and to Minster and Sandwich. There is a bit of existing housing in Cliffsend, not much, certainly for £34m.
The design is hideous - note in the artists impressions they were spot on, but drew the car park, with the station a distant object.
East Kent is quite well covered by stations unless new track is laid somewhere and it is hard to see that Manston Airport is the undeclared objective either, as the terminal is no closer to Thanet than Ramsgate. There are plenty of existing stations in Kent surrounded by fields and hourly direct trains to central London, without needing to spend £34m on a brand new one.
I’m not particularly defending it but to me one of the reasons was to provide somewhere with a lot of parking to get people from Thanet into London quickly. Work/shopping (Westfield for example) that might make the area more attractive for travelling into London
I don’t particularly think that it was designed for those visiting Thanet
There are a number of stations down here but the parking isn’t particularly good at them
With that, I agree, comes new housing. As ever (and it’s happened down here already) the infrastructure isn’t updated at the same time
brad465
Veteran Member
How common before this station opens was travel by car from Thanet to Ebbsfleet to then go into London? I know at least one former colleague who did it from Herne Bay for occasional London meetings, and Ebbsfleet is a well-known hub for driving to for this purpose. If it is common hopefully this new station can pull many of those passengers in.
I visited this morning. I don’t want to just moan, so I shall start with the positives. It is mostly good to have this new station, as it will bring some benefits. There are lots of new developments in the area (not just near the station but other parts on the edge of the Thanet towns), and for people living there this may be a convenient station. It can be very time consuming driving to the main stations as they are in the middle of the towns. It will be much quicker to drive to this station from some areas
There is also the nearby Discovery Park science/industrial park north of Sandwich which may benefit from this.
It will be beneficial for those of Cliffsend, the village the station is located. The village alone won’t generate enough custom to justify the station, but it will be of use to many there. They already have limited bus services to Ramsgate, but the train station means they can have public transport on evenings and Sundays. It is also a direct link to Canterbury - the village lost its direct bus link to the city last year.
Also, it is good infrastructure for the future. No doubt there will be many more houses built on the farmland (even though it’s very high quality lane for growing crops apparently) around Thanet, and Manston could become an operational airport again, although I can’t see it myself.
The bus stop infrastructure at the station is really good, especially for Kent where bus shelters are either very old and badly vandalised, or if it’s very lucky to be a brand new one, the cheapest one possible meaning it gets easily vandalised. So that’s good to see. However, one problem - there are no bus services planned to serve the station! I understand there is a shuttle minibus to Discovery Park though but I can’t find any information about this, and neither was there any publicity at the station.
EDIT: The Discovery Park website says there will be an electric Mercedes Benz Sprinter taking “guests” between the park and the station . No timetable but I presume it might only run on demand.
discovery-park.co.uk
Access to the village of Cliffsend isn’t particularly good. From the north side of the station there is a wide pedestrian/cycle path, but it follows a winding route to the north of the village. For the houses right next to the station on the south side, there is no official path, and it’s just a muddy unofficial path. I’m sure an unofficial path will probably form between the cycle path and the road by the level crossing too.
And now the station itself - the exterior design isn’t too bad and looks ok, but the platform level looks rather depressing and the platform very narrow. I also wonder what the atmosphere of this unstaffed station will be like in terms of anti-social behaviour. I know there are plenty of unstaffed stations, but this station has plenty of covered, discreet areas, such as the lift shafts, shelters and the underpass. There is CCTV everywhere, but that doesn’t do much to stop anti-social behaviour - unless the cameras will be monitored. I would have thought an unstaffed station would be designed not to be a tad claustrophobic and closed in.
There is also the nearby Discovery Park science/industrial park north of Sandwich which may benefit from this.
It will be beneficial for those of Cliffsend, the village the station is located. The village alone won’t generate enough custom to justify the station, but it will be of use to many there. They already have limited bus services to Ramsgate, but the train station means they can have public transport on evenings and Sundays. It is also a direct link to Canterbury - the village lost its direct bus link to the city last year.
Also, it is good infrastructure for the future. No doubt there will be many more houses built on the farmland (even though it’s very high quality lane for growing crops apparently) around Thanet, and Manston could become an operational airport again, although I can’t see it myself.
The bus stop infrastructure at the station is really good, especially for Kent where bus shelters are either very old and badly vandalised, or if it’s very lucky to be a brand new one, the cheapest one possible meaning it gets easily vandalised. So that’s good to see. However, one problem - there are no bus services planned to serve the station! I understand there is a shuttle minibus to Discovery Park though but I can’t find any information about this, and neither was there any publicity at the station.
EDIT: The Discovery Park website says there will be an electric Mercedes Benz Sprinter taking “guests” between the park and the station . No timetable but I presume it might only run on demand.
Discovery Park on Track for the Opening of Thanet Parkway - Discovery Park
Ahead of the opening of Thanet Parkway railway station at the end of next month, Discovery Park has unveiled a dedicated shuttle service for visitors to the county’s largest science and innovation park, near Sandwich in Kent.
discovery-park.co.uk
Access to the village of Cliffsend isn’t particularly good. From the north side of the station there is a wide pedestrian/cycle path, but it follows a winding route to the north of the village. For the houses right next to the station on the south side, there is no official path, and it’s just a muddy unofficial path. I’m sure an unofficial path will probably form between the cycle path and the road by the level crossing too.
And now the station itself - the exterior design isn’t too bad and looks ok, but the platform level looks rather depressing and the platform very narrow. I also wonder what the atmosphere of this unstaffed station will be like in terms of anti-social behaviour. I know there are plenty of unstaffed stations, but this station has plenty of covered, discreet areas, such as the lift shafts, shelters and the underpass. There is CCTV everywhere, but that doesn’t do much to stop anti-social behaviour - unless the cameras will be monitored. I would have thought an unstaffed station would be designed not to be a tad claustrophobic and closed in.
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They've done the bare minimum. We've set ourselves an embarrassing precedent
zwk500
Veteran Member
Followed the precedent set a long time ago, I think.
Can't really comment on Thanet but from here the railhead for London is North Greenwich for the Jubilee Line (and you drive past Ebbsfleet on the A2). Don't really see why you'd drive to EBBsfleet its neither one thing or the other.
Kite159
Veteran Member
Maybe Ebbsfleet will be more useful for people whose vehicles don't meet the ULEZ standards, but even them the fee will be cheaper than the train fare from Ebbsfleet into London
brad465
Veteran Member
I see, I wonder if a belief that more traffic exists as one gets close to Central London puts travellers off going any further. Either that or the ones who go to Ebbsfleet want something near St Pancras, or to go further from either St Pancras, Kings Cross or Euston.
Actually got a train today that stopped there. 15.27 from St Pancras which arrived at 16.50
A handful of people got off. I wondered if there might be some families as it is school holidays and the time from London would beat the
rush hour. Saw one family.
2 or 3 waiting for the London bound train
Not scientific at all, obviously.
A handful of people got off. I wondered if there might be some families as it is school holidays and the time from London would beat the
rush hour. Saw one family.
2 or 3 waiting for the London bound train
Not scientific at all, obviously.
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