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Friday 3 Dec 2021

New and improved Maidstone East station opens - providing welcoming gateway to town centre

Region & Route:

Southern: Kent

| Southern

A bigger, more spacious entrance and concourse with a brand-new waiting room, café and ticket office are just some of the benefits passengers will enjoy as part of a £5.2m upgrade to Maidstone East station.

The station was officially opened yesterday (Thursday 2 December) by the Mayor of Maidstone, Cllr Fay Gooch, who was joined by representatives from Network Rail, Southeastern, Maidstone Borough Council, Kent County Council and the main contractor Geoffrey Osborne Ltd.

The station now provides an attractive, modern, welcoming gateway to Maidstone town centre, flowers and shrubs planted on the forecourt to provide a landscaped, bright and cheerful environment for passengers.

An impressive 3.5m by 2m high sculpture of ‘Iggy’ the dinosaur was also unveiled at the opening event, as a nod to the 125 million-year-old dinosaur fossils discovered in the town in the Victorian era The Iguanodon even features on Maidstone Borough’s coat of arms.

More work is now underway to increase parking and pedestrian access at the side of Maidstone East station, including better lighting and CCTV, more accessible parking and drop off spaces along with improved connectivity to Maidstone Barracks station.

As well as attracting people back to rail travel, the station redevelopment is a key part of Kent County and Maidstone Borough Councils’ plans to regenerate the town centre area around the station.

Fiona Taylor, route managing director for Network Rail’s Kent route, said: “The station upgrade is now complete and looks fantastic. I’m confident passengers will love the new-look Maidstone East – it’s something everyone can really be proud of.

‘I’d like to thank our passengers and residents for their patience while the project has progressed through some very tough times and in a challenging working environment. We’re delighted the station is now fully open, providing an impressive welcome for regular rail users as well as visitors to the town.”

The Mayor of Maidstone, Cllr Fay Gooch, said: “The station upgrade at Maidstone East has already made a huge difference to the town. It’s bright and airy which staff and passengers have wanted for some time. The facilities are all first class and the landscaped forecourt will look splendid next year when spring is in bloom.”

Kent County Council’s Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport, David Brazier, added: “Maidstone is Kent’s county town, so it is gratifying to see the vibrant welcome visitors will receive now the station has been upgraded.

“I am pleased that new facilities have been installed, with the help of funding from Kent County Council, to make this part of town a more attractive and delightful place to be.”

Southeastern’s Passenger Services Director, David Wornham, said: “The train station is often at the heart of the community, and as part of our drive to win back customers, we want to make them as welcoming as possible.

“These improvements do just that, offering a much safer and more enjoyable travel experience.

“I’d like to say thank you to all the partners involved, including the station manager Caroline Wallis and her team, for looking after passengers during the work.”

The station upgrade is another example of Network Rail and Southeastern working together collaboratively. Southeastern is focused on winning back customers after pandemic and has recently introduced flexible season tickets, more advance fares and is rolling out new City Beam trains onto the Dartford, Hayes and Sevenoaks routes.

Extra train services are also being added to the timetable from 12 December and in February 2022, six additional City services per day will be running between Maidstone East and Blackfriars via Denmark Hill.