In December 2009, Southeastern will begin operation of the new high speedcommuter rail services from St. Pancras and Stratford International London, to the Thames Gateway and Kent. MVA have been working with Southeasternfor over a year to help them make the most of this exciting opportunity. This work began with an extensive market research programme, including a customer profiling survey, stated preference surveys with existing users, and telephone surveys with non-users, providing Southeastern with a robust basis for planning its new services. This study considers the interaction between Southeastern and the growth areas of the Thames Gateway, includingthe impact of the new Ebbsfleet International station, as well as regeneration areas within the county of Kent. The profile of the business and population likely to be attracted to the new areas, and how these changes will affect the pattern of rail travel in the area is outlined. These effectshave been studied through a mixture of interviews with key organisations,desk research and modelling. Even with the extra capacity provided by thenew high speed services, the increase in demand across the whole region will continue to put pressure on other parts of the rail network. How the new high speed service will release capacity on the existing rail network is considered, and how Southeastern can make best use of this to enable passengers who might otherwise be crowded off to travel. Where capacity is still an issue, how growth can be accommodated by encouraging passengers whoare not constrained to travel at particular times to move to earlier services is investigated. For the covering abstract see E145999
Abstract