Are changes to our rail services now inevitable?

Maidstone was this week graced with the presence of government minister Chris Grayling, who met with MP Helen Grant and Conservative election hopefuls to hear of various transport woes suffered in the County Town.

Naturally, the issue of Maidstone’s high speed rail services to the captial - something this newspaper has campaigned strongly in favour of saving - dominated the discussion but articulate and confident as the minister is in his words, it’s still difficult not to feel uneasy about the future.

To Mr Grayling’s credit, he made strong arguments for the importance of the Crossrail route, which could be a major artery through the capital for Maidstone commuters, if indeed bidders opt to run services to Abbey Wood, rather than the popular 52-minute high speed services to St Pancras.

While he couldn’t commit to estimating how long such a service from Maidstone to Abbey Wood may be, he insisted commuters would not be worse off than they currently are travelling to St Pancras and continuing their journey.

He made the point it would be far easier to switch platforms at Abbey Wood than it currently is to get off a high speed train at St Pancras and then go underground to use the tube.

It seemed like he may have been laying the groundwork for the inevitable - although ultimately the companies bidding for the franchise themselves are the ones pitching what they believe is best in terms of the south east’s future on the rails.

More than 1,700 people have signed our petition and we need to continue to make the case, to ensure Maidstone gets the best possible deal.