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…
We were delighted to help out at the open day for the Hollingbourne Station Community Hub. The Station Adopters had been creating a buzz throughout the village about the day and had everything ready to open the doors and invite the local community to come and see the rooms and begin imagining how they could…
Happy New Year. Here is a copy of our latest newsletter. To view a pdf version click on the image above or read our web version here.
We are delighted to report that Railway Heritage Trust have awarded Kent CRP £11,470 towards flooring works at the Hollingbourne Station Community Hub. Southeastern railway have already invested substantial amounts in the restoration of the station building and with the support of the local community this is set to become a new Community Hub. Find out more about…
On Sunday 18th December the Kent CRP elves joined Santa himself for a magical journey full of seasonal cheer along the Medway Valley Line. Santa was happy to let the train take the strain, pleased that his reindeer could put their hooves up and take a rest before the very busy night they have coming…
Working in collaboration with Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Kent CRP are guiding walks on the North Downs Way. Together we aim to bring more sustainable tourism to the area and extend the typical summer tourist season to all year round. .Walkers set off from Harrietsham station, guided by local resident Shira…
On Thursday 11th August, we were joined by Matt Fraser of Southeastern at Tonbridge station to promote the 61016 service from British Transport Police and all things rail safety. We were busy from the outset and the pace picked up rapidly as students from a number of local secondary schools arrived for the start of…
Kent CRP have been at Swale Halt today with artist Graham Upton who has been working on phase 2 of our murals for the station. These designs represent places to visit along the line at Sittingbourne and Kemsley. Graham also has begun to make a start on Lacie’s design to…
It was an unexpected start to the day when early morning reports of a landslip between Cuxton and Strood left us wondering who would still be coming along for our Rail Ramble. We needn’t have worried, neither wind nor rain nor rail replacement bus services shall stay these walkers from the completion of their rail…
The walk met the aims of both Kent Community Rail Partnership. The majority of participants made a journey by rail, contributed to the local economy and learned about our activities and local history. Keep an eye out for more led walks on our events programme. The walk met the aims of both Kent Community Rail…
A copy of our press release for the Community Rail Awards 2022 can be found here. A booklet detailing all of this years wonderful projects around the country can be found at https://communityrail.org.uk/…/Winners-booklet-2022..
We’re excited to announce that we have won a Community Rail Award with our Let’s Celebrate Differences project with Five Acre Wood Snodland Special School. The project won the award in the Small Projects category. Students from Five Acre Wood all drew sunflowers and some of these were then made into a mural, which is…
What have we been doing? The Autumn 2022 newsletter is now available. You can either view it online by visiting the newsletter tab on the website or download a pdf copy.
On Saturday 1st October, Kent CRP joined Southeastern in Sittingbourne High Street, to help promote sustainable travel. Thank you to all those who stopped by to chat to us and to our willing volunteers of Matt, Linda, Jonathan, Jackie and Tony who helped out on the day.
Swale Halt is one of the least five used stations in Kent. Despite this we take pride in all our stations. We are delighted that last week, Artist Graham Upton completed the first of our murals for the station. It really does convey the area around the station well. Thank you to our funders which…
Kent Community Rail Partnership (Kent CRP) has worked with Southeastern to lay cycle rails on 6 of the station bridge steps along the Medway Valley Railway Line (Strood to Tonbridge). These stations are: Halling, Aylesford, Maidstone Barracks, Maidstone West, East Farleigh and Yalding. Cycle rails allow cyclists to push their cycles along channels up and…
A group of fourteen assembled at Charing station to walk up into the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. More were booked, the forecast of heavy showers may have been off putting to some. Therese presented a brief introduction of our work with station adopters at Charing before our group of fourteen walkers set…
On Thursday 11th August, we were joined by Matt Fraser of Southeastern and the Dawn Patrol group of Rotary International to promote the 61016 service from British Transport Police, station safety surveys and all things rail safety. Between us we handed out over 100 cards introducing the British Transport Police 61016 service that offers a…
A group of seven assembled at Halling station to walk up into the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Gary presented a brief piece on the history of the station before the group set off, following a route inspired by Robin Bourner from the Friends of Cuxton Station. The Blue Lake looked resplendent in…
Kent CRP are delighted to share with you that our Partnership has successfully been shortlisted in 3 categories for this year’s Community Rail Awards. This was for: Involving Children and Young People and our work with a range of schools and colleges throughout the year. Involving Diverse Groups for the station improvements at Charing Station…
Kent CRP are organising a Music Train for Saturday 14th March along the Medway Valley Line. Mark the date in your diaries to avoid disappointment. More information about how to book your place will follow after Christmas.
We are looking forward to hosting our first Santa Train on the SwaleRail Line this year on the 14th December. The event is very popular and has already sold out. We are looking forward to seeing all the lucky passengers who managed to reserve their visit to meet Santa.
Kent CRP are organising a 12 mile family bike ride from Tonbridge Station to Penshurst Place and back. The route is beautiful and follows the National Cycle Network Route 12. We are encouraging participants to travel on the train with their bikes to Tonbridge Station. The event will take place between 10:45 and 15:00 Sunday…
Kent Community Rail Partnership will be one of more than 40 groups joining forces to showcase some of Britain’s most scenic rail journeys at a nationwide series of events next month. ‘Community Rail in the City’ is a flagship annual celebration aimed at promoting sustainable tourism and travel for recreation on Britain’s community rail routes,…
Any new Kent CRP events will be advertised here.
Father Christmas and his Elves look forward to welcoming you at 12:45 at Maidstone West Station on 15th December for our 2 hour train ride. Tickets are now available to purchase. Adults are priced at £10 and children £1. To purchase your tickets just click Eventbrite.Book now to avoid disappointment as numbers are limited.
Sat 15 Dec Santa Train. Boarding at Maidstone West for a 2 hour return journey. Join us for fun on the train with a visit from Santa and a goody bag for every child, we’ll have fun with crafts, face painting, ballooning and more. All for the price of the train ticket! Booking essential on…
Kent Community Rail Partnership has submitted its response to the Department for Transport (DfT) consultation about the renewal of the Rail Franchise for the south east of England, which is due take place in December 2018. You can download a copy of the document here. If you would like to respond yourself to the consultation…
A nationwide event to promote Community Rail at Main Line Stations. Come and find us on the Southeastern concourse anytime between 7am and 7pm and make your own pedal-powered Smoothie drink!
9:30am start to see fantastic redevelopment at Snodland station and celebrate 160 years of Medway Valley Line.
As part of the continuing Thameslink Programme work, Network Rail need to close Cannon Street at the end of August, resulting in major changes to services. Other stations including London Bridge will also be affected. Please click here for further detail on Southeastern’s website.
Kent CRP are recruiting a part-time Project Support Officer, but you’ll have to be quick! Click here for the job description. Closing date is 28th July.
We are holding a couple of public consultation meetings to enable us to prepare for the forthcoming South East England Rail Franchise renewal exercise. You are all very welcome to join us at either or indeed both of the meetings Timings are as follows: Medway Valley Line: Tuesday 7th June at 6:45pm to 8:15pm: Public…
Our Spring Newsletter is now available on the Medway Valley and SwaleRail Line pages for download. It features pictures and articles about recent events details of our plans for the coming months. You can also download it by clicking on the following link: Spring 2016 Printed copies will be distributed to manned stations, libraries etc……
The latest Great British Railway Journeys programme features Ashford to Sevenoaks and includes a visit to the Hitachi Javelin maintenance depot at Ashford. You can watch it on BBC iPlayer at the following web address (or on your TV/smartphone etc…): http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b06z8ht0/great-british-railway-journeys-series-7-16-ashford-to-sevenoaks Unfortunately Mr Portillo misses out the 2 best destinations on the line, Paddock…
Tonbridge station is now officially part of the Medway Valley Line bringing the delights of the Rail Partnership to a whole new set of potential users and supporters at Kent’s busiest railway station! Approval was granted by the Department for Transport who launched a formal consultation which generated a lot of positive support for the…