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Rail line closure anger

Rail line closure sparks anger
Rail line closure sparks anger

Opposition is growing to plans to close the Ashford to Hastings railway line for engineering works for more than two months next year.
Ashford MP Damian Green is the latest to voice his concern over the closure, by writing a letter to rail chiefs.

The closure would double journey times for the many commuters and students who use the line.
Southern Railway is proposing to close the line for nine weeks from January until March while they carry out works on the Ore Tunnel, near Hastings.
The train operator, which says the closure is unavoidable, will be offering customers a half-hourly bus service instead which will take 80 minutes, double the time of the 40-minute train journey.
Damian Green (left) and fellow MPs - Amber Rudd, Hastings and Rye, and Gregory Barker, Bexhill and Battle - have written to Southern and Network Rail on behalf of constituents expressing their concern.
Mr Green said: “It is unclear why the line needs to be closed from Ashford to Rye, as the work is being carried out in the Ore Tunnel. We need reassurances that they have looked at the possibility of keeping the line open between Ashford and Rye.”
Hastings Borough Council leader Cllr Jeremy Birch has also written to Southern’s managing director Chris Burchell raising concerns about the plans.
“It seems unnecessarily disruptive, and damaging, to close the whole line from Hastings through to Ashford when work is taking place in just one tunnel,” he said.
“To force passengers to forsake a 40-minute rail journey in favour of an 80-minute road journey is frankly unacceptable. It will be difficult for commuters and leisure travellers alike, and especially challenging for the growing number of children and students who use the service.”
Marsh Link Action Group (MLAG), a voluntary organisation set up to represent passengers, has also raised concerns about the safety of school children left stranded if replacement buses fill up.

Ashford MP Damian Green
Ashford MP Damian Green
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