Thanet Parkway Station: 'Substantial costs' remain for Kent County Council

The station connects east Kent and London in 70 minutes

Kent County Council (KCC) will have to pay "substantial costs" towards a £40m rail project, new papers have revealed.

Thanet Parkway Station opened officially at the end of July, 13 years after the scheme was first conceived.

It has come under fire for low passenger numbers and costs which have nearly quadrupled from the original £11m estimate.

KCC said it was "expecting further increases" of passenger numbers into 2024.

Councillor Barry Lewis, who represents Thanet on KCC, said the authority must "come clean" to taxpayers about the true price tag.

The council is likely to be liable for future costs including CCTV and archaeological works.

Papers to go before the council's scrutiny committee on Wednesday said: "There remain substantial costs associated with this scheme that are yet to be spent which KCC will need to fund (unless further external funding sources are secured).

"Future direct KCC spend includes further archaeological evaluation work required by planning, junction retention costs, CCTV costs, Land Compensation Act costs, and other costs associated with additional signage and improvements to the car park.

"The forecast also includes additional costs being charged by Network Rail."

There is no indication of cost attached to these works in the KCC report.

Mr Lewis said: "The fact that no one seems to know or is unwilling to say how much these extra costs will be, indicates to me there is a big problem."

Supporters of the project say in time new housing will push the numbers up and argue it was important to put transport infrastructure in place first.

A KCC spokesperson said: "Thanet Parkway is a key example of an 'infrastructure first' scheme where KCC has championed the delivery of the station and car park infrastructure to accommodate the present and future communities of the Cliffsend and Ramsgate area.

"We will continue to work with Network Rail, Southeastern and Thanet District Council to realise the potential of the station as an integrated transport hub at the heart of Thanet infrastructure."

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