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Coastway campaigns So far in 2000, RDS Coastway Division members have attended numerous meetings and produced correspondence with East Sussex and the other local councils, the office of the Government of the South East (GOSE), plan and study consultants, franchise bidders, the Strategic Rail Authority, local MPs and councillors. Coastway has been represented on the Access to Hastings multi-modal study, both as part of the "wider reference group" and indirectly through the environmental network group, the South East Forum for Sustainability (SEFS) and the East Sussex Sustainable Transport Forum (SESSTF).
The East Sussex 2000-5 Local Transport Plan is vastly improved on the 1999 "provisional" LTP and on the draft version seen in May. There is at least space given to public transport options and even detailed proposals for two of our recommended new stations. However, it still falls short of reflecting the vision of a council inspiring and facilitating a truly integrated countywide transport, with rail at its core.
The publicised bid from Connex - but not from its rival - for the new long period (up to 20 year) South Central franchise promised much of what we demanded in our "New Deal Railway for Brighton to Ashford": reopening Lewes to Tunbridge Wells, upgrading Coastway from Brighton to Ashford with electrification and doubling. Several essential ingredients were missing, as was alone a commitment to a project completion date but it's a great start.
In June, the Access to Hastings multi-modal study consultants produced their last public consultation document. It included options based on public transport, mainly rail, improvements rather than road building. However, although much cheaper than road, the public transport options do not go far enough. For example, a light rail scheme for Hastings has not been costed and, of course, the final recommendation is still to come. Coastway is refining its vision, complete with maps and detailed proposals, for East and West Sussex and the surrounding area. The likely recipients of its attention in the near future will be GOSE and South East England Development Agency.
Note: contact details (postal and email addresses, along with telephone numbers) in old editions of Railwatch out of date. Click CONTACT US for latest contact details.
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