ELIZABETH LINE TO EBBSFLEET?

A CONSORTIUM of local authorities and other stakeholders has formed the Crossrail Gravesend working group with a view to pressing for the extension of Crossrail from its current southeastern terminus at Abbey Wood, where services from central London will terminate when the Elizabeth Line opens in December 2018, to the Ebbsfleet / Northfleet area. Two extra tracks would be laid alongside the existing Southeastern line, with additional platforms provided at intermediate stations along the route.

The new terminus would be linked to Ebbsfleet station on HS1 and Northfleet station on the historic line, providing extra services in this area of north Kent earmarked for development. Stephen Gasche, Principal Transport Planner – Rail with Kent County Council, told the Kent Rail Summit in Maidstone on 15 May that the consortium was targeting opening of the new route ‘in the late 2020s’.