Ramsgate: Improving mobility by intermodality

Ramsgate station, located in the County of Kent 75 miles east of London, probably has the best railway connections in the area with regular services to Victoria and Charing Cross stations in London. A new high-speed service to London has been announced and is planned to start in December 2009. The journey time from Ramsgate to the new St. Pancras terminal, with excellent transport links, will be 1 hour 24 minutes as opposed to the present commuting time of 1 hour 50 minutes. Also Ramsgate station is in close proximity to Kent international airport. More than 850,000 passenger journeys per year are made from the station.

The station is, however, over a mile from Ramsgate town centre, and onward travel to the town, port and outlying areas was earlier mainly done by bus or taxi. The Ramsgate Interchange project aimed to provide Ramsgate and its surrounding areas with a transport interchange that was safer, easier to use and more attractive for all users, linking the station more effectively with the local community. The project was also linked to bus service improvements and upgrading the citys cycle routes for maximum impact. Combined the whole package helped both residents and tourists to access work and leisure by bus, bike and foot quickly and pleasantly from the station.

The specific improvements made to the forecourt were: Relocating two existing bus stops from the station approach to the station forecourt with a new paved area, heritage-approved bus shelters and an electronic information kiosk. Also a pedestrian route across the forecourt section, a new cycle route across the forecourt and a resurfacing and remarking of the car park with drop-off and short-stay areas were carried out.

Kent County Council worked with a number of partners across different sectors to improve Ramsgate station’s forecourt area for people arriving by all forms of transport. To pay for the renovation a public-private partnership was formed between the district, the county, train- and station-operators and The Railway Heritage Trust. According to the partners of the project, the success of the Ramsgate project has been highly dependent on sensitivity to the different partners’ aspirations and expectations. Realising that this project could benefit the different partners has been possible only due to good communication from the very beginning. 

“Better Transport: Transport that improves our quality of life and reduces our environmental impact” John French, Campaign for better transport