Maidstone to Cambridge train line hopes revived as Kent County Council lobbies government for Thameslink service
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Updated: 20:15, 12 February 2021
Transport bosses have revived hopes for a new rail connection between Kent and Cambridge after receiving overwhelming support from residents.
Kent County Council (KCC) has lobbied the government to introduce a Thameslink service from Maidstone East to Cambridgeshire via London.
Watch: Rail campaigners angry after delayed plans for fast Kent-London service
This would initially stop at Blackfriars and St Pancras before heading 60 miles north to Cambridge.
KCC s rail manager, Stephen Gasche, stressed the plans had overwhelming support from people across mid-Kent as he laid out the council s ambitions for train travel over the next decade, during a virtual meeting earlier today.
Kent Travel Saver payments cancelled after Aylesham mum blasts Kent County Council over unfair school travel charge
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Updated: 18:54, 08 January 2021
Payments for children s bus passes have been cancelled following a backlash from parents who feared they would have to carry on forking out for the service.
Kent County Council had this week urged families not to cancel direct debits for its travel saver cards, despite the closure of schools during lockdown.
The passes give schoolchildren access to cut-price bus travel
But now KCC has back-pedalled and announced that it will be cancelling the £45 monthly payment for January and February.
Transport cabinet member Cllr Michael Payne explained: We appreciate how hard another lockdown is for parents and the impact it is having on families, businesses and livelihoods, particularly after it follows some of the harshest tier restrictions.