The Chair welcomed representatives of Chalkwell and Southeastern Railway to the meeting and said they had come along as questions about public transport had been raised at previous meetings.

Roland Eglington, the Managing Director of Chalkwell gave an update which included the following:

·       Chalkwell was a family business which started in Sheerness in 1931;

·       their principle activities included coach hire for schools, businesses and private organisations, special education needs transport, home to school buses and operatation of a local bus network;

·       biggest challenges at the moment included major roadworks and road closures, investment needed for switch to zero emissions, A2 Air Quality Management and funding under threat;

·       costs increased faster than revenue;

·       some services had been reduced or removed;

·       buses were the most popular form of public transport carrying 10.2 million people a day compared to rail which carried 4.8 million people per day;

·       the Government spent £400 million per year supporting the industry;

·       the Better Buses Bill gave local authorities the option for local authorities to run local services themselves;

·       buses took vehicles off the road which reduced greenhouse gas emissions. Buses and coaches caused up to 2% of emissions compared to 52% from private cars;

·       infrastructure changes and funding support from Government was required to move to electric buses; and

·       buses were an investment for growth.

Freya Alder the Integrated Travel Manager and George Paterson the Senior Stakeholder Engagement Manager at Southeastern Railway gave an update which included the following:

·       Southeastern were the first railway network in Great Britain to integrate with Network Rail, meaning that infrastructure and services were run by one integrated organisation. The benefit of this was to deliver more growth and reduce the taxpayer subsidy by £50 million;

·       in December 2025 additional services were planned, some of which had been made acting on customer feedback and the introduction of performance initiatives based on the operation of the May 2025 timetable;

·       more changes were planned for May 2026;

·       an integrated travel strategy was being developed which aimed to create seamless door-to-door journeys for everyone by better integrating rail with active, shared and public transport;

·       the objectives would be achieved by enhancing existing first and last mile options, improving station facilities, improving customer information, promoting sustainable travel and gathering insights and planning for improvement;

·       Station travel plans were being carried out for Sheerness-on-Sea and Sittingbourne by undertaking a strategic study of multi-modal connectivity and station access and carrying out station audits and passenger surveys; and

·       more information could be found at integratedtravel@southeasternrailway.co.uk

The following comments and questions were raised:

·       Were there any plans to increase off-peak services between Sittingbourne and Sheerness-on-Sea?

·       were there plans to move freight from Ridham?;

·       there were concerns about vibration caused by double-decker buses driving through Milton Regis;

·       as there were no ticket barriers at Sheerness-on-Sea, how could passenger figures be calculated?:

·       what revenue protection measures were put in place at Kemsley and Sheerness where there were no ticket barriers?;

·       when carrying out surveys it was important to get the views of potential passengers;

·       were there plans to introduce bus services after 7 pm?:

·       would the Sheerness-on-Sea to London service be reinstated?;

·       the lifts at Sittingbourne were often out of order;

·       could a new exit be provided on the north side of Sittingbourne railway line?;

·       the closed circuit television camera was not always in operation;

·       parents viewed buses and coaches safer than the train for children travelling to and from school;

·       when would the bus service be reinstated at Great East Hall, Murston;

·       people with disabilities had difficulties accessing rail services from Newington, wheelchair users could not disembark when travelling from Rainham, they had to travel to Sittingbourne and return to Newington;

·       when would live information boards be operational at Sittingbourne Bus Hub?;

·       could services be put in place for north/south routes in Kent for example the Isle of Sheppey/Maidstone and Maidstone/Ashford;

·       what was the progress on the metro-style service between Rochester and Canterbury? Could that include Strood?;

·       dementia friendly ticket machines were needed in stations;

·       concerns about railway crossing safety; and

·       security and safety on trains was not as good as it used to be?.

Representatives from Chalkwell and Southeastern Railway responded as follows:

A strong business case was needed to increase services. Trains were weighed to calculate passenger numbers. There were good relationships between the bus and train service providers which helped to improve bus and rail timetable linkages, however, each change had a knock-on effect. Plus Bus tickets could be used on both rail and bus. Fares were regulated by government, discounts were available for off-peak and advance services.  Rail Revenue Protection Officers were doing everything they could to target problem areas. The Sittingbourne Railway station team were dealing with the lift being out-of-order. There needed to be a viable business-case to reinstate the Sheerness-on-Sea to London service. There would be outreach to people who did not use trains, stakeholder input was essential. Funding was needed to provide bus services after 7 pm. Once the road through Great East Hall was adopted by Kent County Council (KCC) and remedial works completed, it would be possible to provide a bus service. It was challenging for KCC to procure the live information boards for the Sittingbourne Bus Hub and that had resulted in a delay in their installation. An investigation was underway and lessons would be learned following the recent incident on the level crossing. All trains had an onboard manager who were trained to deal with safety and security. The question about introducing north/south Kent services would need to be answered by Stagecoach. All other comments were noted.

The Chair thanked the representatives from Chalkwell and Southeastern Railway for taking the time to attending the meeting.