MP AMBER RUDD HAS WELCOMED HER SIXTH AND MOST SUCCESSFUL TRANSPORT SUMMIT which recently took place at East Sussex College in Hastings.
Speaking after the summit, Amber said: “I was delighted to hold my 6th Transport Summit as the MP for Hastings and Rye, and was encouraged by the positivity from both panellists and residents.
“We heard from an interesting panel and it is clear that major improvements have taken place to our rail services, such as Southern’s punctuality increasing from 51.5% to 75.1% in one year. We have seen similar improvements come to Southeastern over the past year, as well as better compensation for passengers with Delay Repay 15.
“Many residents were interested to hear from Andrew Wood from Network Rail, who are pressing on with the project to bring faster journey times to our towns. I was pleased to hear that 66-69 minutes remains the target journey time for journeys to and from London, and that work will be going ahead to make this a reality. To clarify the situation for residents, track changes were required at Ashford to provide a direct service from London St Pancras to Hastings and Rye, but these would have cost £35.3 million.
“I’m delighted that there is a better way to deliver these faster journey times – by building a new platform at Ashford so faster services can run through direct to our towns. I will continue to fight for better transport services for residents which will include keeping pressure on the prize of faster journey times, and improving the safety and capacity of the A21.”
Any constituents with queries on transport issues should contact Amber’s office by emailing amber.rudd.mp@parliament.uk or by calling 01424 716756.
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Notes to the Editor:
- Picture: Transport Summit panel, left to right: David Statham, Andrew Wood, Amber Rudd MP, Ray Chapman (Chair), Huw Merriman MP, Angie Doll.
- Full list of panel speakers is below:
- Ray Chapman – East Sussex Rail Alliance (Chair)
- Amber Rudd – MP for Hastings and Rye
- Huw Merriman – MP for Bexhill and Battle
- David Statham – Managing Director at Southeastern
- Angie Doll – Managing Director at Southern
- Andrew Wood – Senior Commercial Manager at Network Rail
- Rupert Clubb – Director of Communities, Economy, and Transport at East Sussex County Council
- Graham Peters – Chairman of Team East Sussex
- Keith Glazier – Leader of East Sussex County Council and Chairman of Transport for the South East
- Joel Mitchell – Managing Director at Stagecoach South East
- Peter Phillips – Route Sponsor at Highways England