Kent cannot be kept on gridlock every time a problem happens on road or rail
December 20, 2009 3:44 PM
Originally published by Catherine Bearder MEP
Originally published by Catherine Bearder MEP
Following a weekend of road and rail chaos, local Euro MP Catherine Bearder demands answers to what plans are in place to stop this now regular gridlock.
This weekend's Eurostar breakdown is of great concern, not only because of what brought the service to a halt, but the lack of preparedness of the staff to care for their passengers.
Catherine said, "I will be contacting the operators of Eurostar to get a full report and to find what evacuation plans they have and how they train their staff to cope in emergencies."
"Clearly what happened on Friday was unacceptable and must not happen again".
The second of Kent's problems is the gridlock caused yet again by Operation Stack. Operation Stack is a police operation to park lorries on sections of the M20 when the Channel Tunnel is forced to close. Catherine commented, "I know that money has come from the EU to the south East region to help with the major transport routes that go through the region, and yet we are still having regular gridlock across the county when Operation Stack is implemented."
"The design of this is meant for unusual emergencies, and yet it seems that it is now happening on a regular basis; we cannot have our major trunk routes turned into car parks on a regular basis."
"I will be contacting the EU Commissioner for Transport, the government office of the South East and Kent County Council to find out what has happened to the EU money and what plans they have to make Operation Stack a thing of the past.
"The people of Kent and those travelling through it deserve better from the people that are meant to be operating the transport system".
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