Ashford College ESOL Student Train Travel Training and Sustainable Tourism Guided Walk Working in collaboration with Kent Downs National Landscape, Kent CRP managed train travel training and a walk on the North Downs Way for 14 Ashford College students whose first language isn’t English (ESOL – English for Speakers of Other Languages) and 4 of…
Strood Station Adoption Meeting, June 2026 On Wednesday 3rd June, in Community Rail Week, we met with Strood station manager, Bev Rickwood and Charlotte Morris from City of Rochester School to discuss our latest station adoption. City of Rochester school are keen to involve their students in caring for the planters, creating new artwork for…
Medway Valley Walk – Yalding to Maidstone, June 2026 Whilst originally conceived as a group event to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Maidstone River Park, a forecast of thundery showers throughout the day proved too off putting for our booked guests. Ever adaptable, our volunteer walk assistant Michael and I set off to…
Festival of Sheppey and the Sheppey Shuttle, June 2026 Throughout the Railway 200 year, we deepened our connection with Jenny Hurkett and Sheppey’s Criterion Blue Town heritage centre, who helped us to celebrate Sheppey’s transport heritage, arranged film screenings and supported and inspired many more of our events and activities. Jenny proposed the “Festival…
Diversity House: Train Travel Training, May 2026 On Friday 22nd May we were joined by an ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) learning group from Diversity House for a “Try A Train” experience. Our journey began with introductions and a look at the accessibile travel information outside the station. Before moving through to the…
Low Carbon Birding Towards the end of last year, Kevin Thornton got in touch with us to discuss an idea he had for introducing the birding community and newcomers to birding to low carbon birding. Kevin is very much a rail travel advocate, combining walking, cycling, trains and buses for many of his own journeys….
Faversham Festival of Transport 16th and 17th May Kent CRP had a fantastic time with a pop-up stand at the Faversham Festival of Transport. It was a busy weekend, spanning Saturday 16th and Sunday 17th May, with the Faversham streets filled with inspiring vintage vehicles. A change of venue saw us join model railway exhibitions…
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…
Queenborough History Weekend, 5th – 7th June The Queenborough Society and Queenborough Guildhall Museum are coming together to celebrate the history of the town, from Charles I to Charles III 1625 – 2025. Queenborough History Trail, Friday 5th – Sunday 7th Take a self-led tour of the town and discover its history along the way….
Annual Stakeholder Event, 27th April 2026 We were delighted to welcome our stakeholders, partners, members and volunteers to our Annual Stakeholder Event, on Monday 27th 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. The Value of Community Rail…
Festival of Sheppey 2026 A month-long festival of the island’s heritage Exciting plans have been announced for the first ever Festival of Sheppey, a brand-new month-long celebration set to shine a spotlight on everything that makes the Island special. Taking place throughout June 2026, the festival will bring together communities, organisations and venues across the…
Faversham Festival of Transport, 16/17 May 2026 We’ll be at this year’s Faversham Festival of Transport, sharing places to visit by rail, money saving tips and community rail news with new audiences. We’re expecting a very busy weekend and will be stocking up with bags, pens, stickers, colouring in pages and puzzle sheets, ready to talk…
New Planters at Maidstone West Our fantastic station adopters, Maidstone CAN made a huge step forward with their plans with their plans to improve the station environment for passengers and the local community. On Sunday 19th April, we joined volunteers from Maidstone CAN to receive delivery of the planters, move them across the tracks to…
Tracks and Trails Adventure, Yalding to Maidstone Rail Ramble, Tuesday 2nd June Join us for a Tracks and Trails adventure celebrating 25 years of the Maidstone River Park. We will meet at Yalding station at 11:15am before setting off for a 7.5 mile riverside ramble; passing through Teston Country Park, joining Maidstone River Park…
Garden of England art and planters launch, Ashford International Station, 27 March 2026 . After completing their inspirational ‘Welcome to Ashford’ pots at the front of the station and 64 Railway 200 decals in the underpass of the station it was time for the primary pupils and college students to turn their attention to the…
“Putting Down Routes” Sustainable Tourism Guided Walk, Charing station to The Signal Box Café at Hollingbourne station, Saturday 21 March 2026 . Working in collaboration with the North Downs Way National Trail ‘Putting Down Routes’ project Kent CRP managed a 10 mile guided walk from Charing railway station to The Signal Box Café at Hollingbourne…
Aylesford Station Adoption Launch Back in November of 2021 we met with Aylesford School and Aylesford Parish Council for a Southeastern station adoption safety briefing, full of enthusiasm to explore how we could work together to introduce artwork, history and planting to the station. A slow start was expected due to Covid restrictions. Tom Shelley…
Dominic Noades – Outstanding Volunteer Contribution Kent Community Rail Partnership is celebrating national recognition after volunteer Dominic Noades won “Outstanding Volunteer Contribution” at the 21st Community Rail Awards. The event, organised by Community Rail Network and supported by headline partner East Midlands Railway, took place in Derby on Thursday 19 March. A record-breaking 610 guests…
Kent Rail Pastors on the Medway Valley Line A chance encounter while travelling on the Medway Valley Line helped us to discover more about the Kent Rail Pastors team. Kent Rail Pastors provide a caring presence on Southeastern’s trains and stations to support both passengers and staff. Rail Pastors come from many different faith…
Travelling with Confidence – Bromley Mencap. Monday 2nd March 2026 On a warm sunny Monday afternoon, we welcomed 14 learners from Bromley Mencap and their tutors to Bromley South station for a trip to Swanley. The Travelling with Confidence trip was designed to build on classroom learning delivered the previous month, to raise the…