Campaign for Better Transport (East Sussex) has expressed disappointment in the findings of the recent study on the prospect of a new Glyne Gap station.

A new station serving this busy and growing shopping and leisure centre on the A259 has always been a popular idea: we have been campaigning for the station since 1986 and at that time had the support of several businesses on the site.

Despite popularity, this is an incomplete study that has not engaged with the public at all and has been carried out with an air of secrecy. We note that the study: l Worked on a ‘one train per hour in each direction’ assumption, so was set to fail.

  • Failed to take into account increased passenger numbers arising from enhanced and complementary bus and cycle links.
  • Over-emphasised the importance of small time penalties against better reliability.
  • Includes extra parking as a necessity where none is needed: it would undermine the bus and rail market.
  • Didn’t include consideration of prospective benefits or opportunities for a reduction in congestion.
  • Failed to address the increased attractiveness of ‘workplace travel plans’ for local workers – including those at Ravenside itself.
  • Ignores the needs of all those seeking high quality alternatives to the car and attractive ticket offers, especially the young.
  • Ignores the station’s contribution to the ESCC Local Transport Plan objectives in respect of short car trips transferring to public transport.
  • Doesn’t examine alternative patterns of service or infrastructure improvements that would be the determinants of success for Glyne Gap station.
  • Doesn’t take a strategic view of the transport needs of Bexhill and Hastings and ignores potential demand management measures that would raise the ‘value for money’ performance of the station.
  • Acknowledges the acute overcrowding on the two-car Brighton-Ashford service but doesn’t offer any solution.
  • Leaves a question mark over whether all potential sources of funding have been explored.

Sadly, the young can look forward to more of the same – with the car at the centre of transport thinking, and sustainable transport – bus, train, walking and cycling – lagging behind. We note that a ‘poor value for money’ assessment by the Department for Transport has not impeded progress on the Bexhill to Hastings Link Road. At just 3% of the cost of BHLR, Glyne Gap station would offer sustainable travel opportunities to a growing number of people who are declining the ‘car habit’.

We urge local people to demand that Rother District Council does not delete the station from the Rother District Strategic Plans’.

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