Most Recent Stories in Transport

Commuters from Tonbridge to London have been battered by a £1,500 rise in their annual rail fare over the last decade, latest figures show. Those making the daily trek to the capital are now paying £3,768 per year - whereas in 2003 they were only paying £2,240. The shocking figures from Campaign For Better Transport marks yesterday's average fare increase of 3.9 per cent on journeys. Stephen Joseph, chief executive...

Today we ask the question - is train firm Southeastern really ready for this year's cold weather? It comes after yesterday's light dusting of snow caused major disruption to services across the country of Kent. The firm blamed Network Rail for not clearing the rails of snow and ice - because it hadn't realised it was going to snow. But embarassingly it follows the company's brazen statement last week to local MPs that it 'was' ready...

There was yet more chaos for thousands of train commuters who use the busy main Hastings to London line this morning as electrical supply problems caused disruption at Hildenborough. A Southeastern spokesman said: 'Because of this, there are delays of up to 40 minutes between Tonbridge and Sevenoaks. These delays will continue until approximately 10:30.' It comes after similar problems yesterday, when thousands of commuters had...

Thousands of commuters had trouble getting to work this morning after a train broke down on the busy main Hastings to London line. The 4.57 am Tonbridge to Charing Cross Southeastern  service broke down at Hildenborough station where there is only single track in either direction. Trains stacked up behind as the the train couldn't be moved. It led to some London bound services diverted at Tonbridge via Redhill, with buses...

THE long-awaited A21 widening has been given the go-ahead, the Government announced today. Roads minister Mike Penning has approved development work on six major road schemes, with the A21 dualling project between Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells at the top of the list. It is a victory for the Kent and Sussex Courier's A21 For 2016 campaign which has been pressing for the much-needed project to be approved. Construction work could...

Cycling safety should improve in Tonbridge after £200,000 was awarded to Kent to expand the Bikeability Cycle training scheme. Bikeability – the National Standard for Cycle Training – is one of a number of initiatives run by the county council aimed at making cyclists safer. It will now be offered to a much wider age-range of children.   KCC is working with Kent School Games Organisers to make sure all Year 6...

Tonbridge holidaymakers looking to fly overseas are fairly well placed when it comes to airports and channel ports. But from next year travellers can add another name to this list of nearby airports – Southend in Essex. easyJet has announced it will begin operating from London Southend Airport from April 2012.  There will be 70 flights per week and passengers will have a choice of around 10 different European destinations...

Kent County Council says its campaign to stand up for the county's commuters has been heard loud and clear by Transport Minister Theresa Villiers. At a meeting in Westminster, Leader of Kent County Council Paul Carter and KCC Cabinet Member for Environment, Highways and Waste Bryan Sweetland presented the Minister with a copy of the Rail Action Plan for Kent, which was launched at the recent Kent Rail Summit. This 15-point plan,...

I am gobsmacked that a train from Hastings to London was cancelled due to a damp driver's seat. Haven't commmuters put up with enough already with snow chaos and hiked prices? Loads of people got stranded at High Brooms because the driver's seat got wet when a window was left open - how selfish of him not to just put a few newspapers on it or a plastic bag and get on with his job. I dread to think what would have happened if people like...

Last winter was the coldest and wettest winter for many years and the road network in Kent suffered unprecedented damage. Record numbers of potholes have been reported to KCC since the beginning of the year, and the Council says it is still working hard to repair this damage. They have extra crews in each district, working on a 'find and fix' basis so that all potholes on a stretch of road will be filled at the same time. Under 'find...