Department for Transport confirms our Accredited Community Rail Partnership status. We are delighted to announce that the Department for Transport has renewed their accreditation of the Kent Community Rail Partnership. Accreditation is formal recognition by the DfT that Kent Community Rail Partnership operates to a high standard and that its objectives and activities are supported…
Award for Paws on the Platform An amazing afternoon spent with the wonderful Guide Dog volunteers at their annual award ceremony in Kent on Friday 30th May. Our collaborative Paws on the Platform event highlighting the difficulties partially sighted passengers encounter when travelling by rail achieved second place – well done all!
National Safeguarding Conference 2025 Safeguarding our Railway Kent Community Rail Partnership were honoured to be invited to the National Safeguarding Conference 2025 on Thursday, 29th May where leading figures from policing, transport and youth services will gathered to address some of the most urgent challenges facing passengers and staff across Britain’s rail network. Hosted…
Celebrating Tonbridge Station’s 183rd Birthday On Thursday 22nd May, we joined Southeastern, Southeast Communities CRP and The Oaks Specialist College to celebrate Tonbridge station’s 183rd birthday and Community Rail Week. Our stall had promotional materials for our projects and activites, tote bags, pens and other freebies to help us engage with passengers as they passed…
Rail Safety sessions with Leigh Academy at Paddock Wood station, Thursday 15th May We were delighted to join Daniel Rushbrook, station manager, to welcome three groups of Year 3 young learners from Leigh Academy to Paddock Wood station. Year 3 are learning about the key features of their community and how it has changed…
Celebrating Strood Station’s 169th Birthday On Wednesday 18th June we’re joining Southeastern to celebrate Strood station’s 169th birthday, 2:00-4:00pm. We’ll have tote bags, pens and colouring in sheets to give away, some great ideas for family Days Out By Rail for you to enjoy, and advice to share on railcards, kids for a quid and other…
Celebrating Tonbridge Station’s 183rd Birthday On Thursday 22nd May, we’re joining Southeastern, Southeast Communities CRP and The Oaks Specialist College to celebrate Tonbridge station’s 183rd birthday, 10am-4pm. Pop along to find out more about Community Rail along our lines and some great Days Out By Rail for you to enjoy. Tonbridge station’s official birthday is on Monday…
New Station Adopters For Maidstone West We are delighted to announce that Maidstone CAN (Climate Action Network) have signed up to adopt Maidstone West station under Southeastern’s station adoption scheme and will be joining Community Rail Network as a station adoption group. This will build upon the legacy of Ian Paterson and his family,…
Annual Stakeholder Event, 30th April 2025 We were delighted to welcome our stakeholders, partners, members and volunteers to our Annual Stakeholder Event, on Wednesday 30th April at Maidstone Town Hall. The event provides an opportunity to showcase our achievements to our stakeholders, and to celebrate the contributions of our volunteers. People Powered Movement and…
Snodland Allotment – May 2025 Update Last Thursday we met with Five Acre Wood (Snodland) and Network Rail for the official hand-over of keys to access the Snodland station allotment site. Network Rail have offered to undertake some further site clearance work and to look into other ways they can to help Five Acre…
Southeastern in Bloom 2025 Southeastern in Bloom is an annual gardening competition, giving Southeastern staff the chance to transform stations, depots, and offices into vibrant green spaces. It’s an opportunity to cultivate plants and flowers that not only enhance the visual appeal of Southeastern’s network but also support local biodiversity and create wildlife-friendly environments. Each…
Faversham Festival of Transport 18/19 May – Community Rail Week 2025 Community Rail Week for 2025 has a theme of “Railway 200”, celebrating the 200th anniversary of passenger rail travel. We’re grateful to Faversham Town Council for their invitation to return to the Faversham Festival of Transport, to bring Kent Community Rail Partnership to a…
Sustainable Tourism Guided Walk, Charing to Harrietsham, Friday 21 March 2025 Working in collaboration with Visit Maidstone, Explore Kent and with funding from Farming in Protected Landscapes, Kent CRP guided this walk on the North Downs Way. Together we aim to bring more sustainable tourism to the area and extend the typical summer tourist season…
Community Rail Awards 2025 At this year’s Community Rail Awards, we were honoured to be recognised for an “Oustanding Contribution to Community Rail”. Community Rail Network said, “Since it was formed in 2003, Kent CRP has grown from an initial five stations to a remarkable 31 across three lines – Swale Rail, Medway…
Guided Rail Ramble from Wateringbury to Maidstone, Saturday 14th June Starting at Wateringbury Station, this guided walk is taking place as part of Maidstone’s Big Day Out, celebrating green spaces throughout the borough. Our walk will take us along the course of the river Medway, passing through Teston Country Park and the Maidstone River…
“Putting Down Routes” Rail Ramble from Cuxton Station, Sunday 9th March. The Kent Downs National Landscape Putting Down Routes team partnered with Kent Community Rail Partnership and North Downs Way Ambassadors to deliver the Cuxton and Ranscombe Farm Circular Rail Ramble. Together we aim to bring under-represented groups into the Kent Downs, encourage sustainable tourism to…
Celebrating Railway 200 We’ve set up a calendar to showcase the events and activites going on for Railway 200. We’ll add more dates and details as we confirm events onto our Action Plan, Keep checking back throughtout the year for updates.
Railway 200 Celebrations Station Birthday Celebrations Led Walks Other Events and Activites Kent Community Rail Partnership, Southeastern and our station adopters are planning to celebrate the birthdays of many of the larger stations along our lines. Event planning is still in progress to hold a celebration on or around the date of the station’s…
When did East Malling station open? As we approach the 151st anniversary of the opening of the line between Otford and Maidstone East, we are trying to find the “Birthday” of East Malling station. All online sources agree it opened in 1913 but there’s no mention of a date. Please contact us and share your…
Guided walk on the Oasts and Orchards Rail Trail, Thursday 20th February. Working in collaboration with Visit Maidstone, Explore Kent and North Downs Way National Trail, Kent Community Rail Partnership are guiding walks from our stations to explore the Kent countryside. Together we aim to bring more sustainable tourism to the area and extend the typical…