Ashford College SEN students Train Travel Training. Orientation morning at Ashford International Station 9 May 2023, Train Travel to Maidstone East, 16 May 2023. Special education needs (SEN) students and their tutors from Ashford College were guided around Ashford International station to help familiarise them with the station. The students have high anxiety and it…
We were absolutely delighted when Hollingbourne Station was one of just 48 stations nominated from a total of 2575 stations in England, Scotland and Wales to take part in the World Cup of Stations 2023. As soon as the website and twitter voting portals went live for the Southeast heats on Monday morning, we…
Community Rail Week for 2023 has a theme of “Connecting Communities By Rail”. An invitation to attend the Faversham Festival of Transport offered an opportunity to bring Kent Community Rail Partnership to a new audience. The Faversham Transport Festival saw the usual Saturday market supplemented by vintage bus rides around the town and…
The railway bridge at Buckland Hill is looking stunning after Maidstone Borough Council (MBC) worked with local students and an artist to create eye catching street art. Students from local schools; Maidstone Grammar School for Girls, Maplesden Noakes and Mid Kent College worked with street artist Graham Upton to create a mural about what…
Kent Community Rail Partnership invite you to “Go Green By Train” and join them on a free led walk from Halling station into the Kent Downs AONB. Starting at Halling Station, we climb the scarp slope of the North Downs to pick up the North Downs Way, crossing Dean Valley. We will…
Thinking of cycling to the station and parking your bike before you travel, or taking it with you on an adventure? We’re looking forward to another day talking all things cycle-rail related at this years Maidstone CycleFest. Cyclefest Cyclefest – All set Pedal harder Promoting healthy sustainable travel Bikes, bikes, bikes It may be a CycleFest…
There were over 100 nominations for the UK’s Best Loved Station – and now, Tim Dunn has shortlisted the top 48 who will battle it out in the World Cup of Stations during Community Rail Week. The hardwork of the local community at Hollingbourne, getting behind Southeastern’s renovation of the building and reimagining their local…
Kent Community Rail Partnership held its annual Stakeholder meeting on Thursday 27th April at Maidstone Town Hall, celebrating the work of its members, partners and volunteers. The event showcased our work which brings communities together along our lines to brighten local station environments, promote sustainable travel and tourism, and support social connections; none of it…
Kent Community Rail Partnership will be in the Guildhall at Faversham Festival of Transport all weekend with information and ideas to help you to Go Green By Train. For us it’s an early start to Community Rail Week, which this year has the theme of ‘Connecting Communities by Rail’. Where will the train take…
If you’ve ever taken a day trip by train to explore London, see the sights or take in a show, there’s a good chance that you bought a One Day Travelcard to combine your rail trip with travel on London Underground, buses, DLR and Tramlink services. Transport for London are consulting on withdrawing the…
In the middle of March, Network Rail invited Five Acre Wood Snodland school, Grow 19 and Kent CRP to view the completed work to clear overgrown vegetation from their land behind Snodland station, with a view to allowing Five Acre Wood to use the area as an allotment and outdoor learning space. Lots of exciting…
Thanks to Kent Community Rail Partenrship and Southeastern, Ashford International Station has become a hub of activity for students of Ashford College. Activities are driven by the students, linked to the curriculum and help the college to connect with local communities. The latest project has seen students reimagine tired planters outside the station as a…
Our Hollingbourne to Lenham Rail Ramble helped to launch this year’s Heart of Kent Walking Festival. Together we aim to bring more sustainable tourism to the area and extend the typical tourist season beyond the summer months. The Hollingbourne Station Community Hub volunteers had kindly opened their doors, allowing us a space to gather with…
We will be holding our Annual Stakeholder Meeting on Thursday 27 April 2023, 1:00-3:00pm (reception from 12:30pm) at Maidstone Town Hall, ME14 1TF. Our Stakeholder Meeting provides an opportunity to hear about some of the fantastic projects happening along our lines, acknowledge the support we receive from our stakeholders, celebrate our community volunteers and to…
On Tuesday, Gary joined our volunteer station adopter Dave to weed the platform planters at Wateringbury station. Last Summer’s heat-wave has taken its toll on some of the established planting. We’ve sown some wildflower seeds, fingers crossed for some colour later in the year. Wateringbury Weeding Wooden Planter Wildflower seeds Today the fabulous Friends of…
We were excited to be part of the Southeastern Stakeholder Forum on Friday 10th March at London Bridge. Southeastern’s senior management team lead by Managing Director, Steve White gave a candid account of the challenging context in which Southeastern is currently operating. Southeastern’s pride in their people shone through as they set out their plan to…
We’re delighted to announce that Queenborough in Bloom have agreed to come on board to care for the platform bench planters, welly garden and boat planters around the station. The adopters met with Matt Fraser, Southeastern Community Relations Manager to complete an essential safety briefing and register their application, the first step forward….
On 23rd February Gary Outram met with Theresa and Richard Emmett from Historical Research Group of Sittingbourne, to view the new local heritage information board installed in the waiting room at Sittingbourne railway station. The history board arose from a community desire to enhance the waiting room. A joint venture between HRGS, the Kent Community…
We would like to thank our volunteer, Dominic Noades for giving his consent for us to feature some of his photography of our stations, trains, scenic views and all things rail related along our lines. We’ll update some of our website pages as time allows, for now a few samples of how…
We took volunteers from the Hollingbourne Station Community Hub’s steering group on a fact finding mission to Bat and Ball Station. Bat and Ball station Bat & Ball poster Mmm, cake The visit offered an opportunity to see a similar community space in action and learn from the Bat and Ball team what has been…