1st February 2008 

Paul Clark, MP for Gillingham and Rainham, today welcomed the government’s announcement of how extra capacity will be delivered on the Gillingham-London rail service. Transport Secretary, Ruth Kelly, yesterday published the government’s Rolling Stock Plan, which set out plans to increase capacity to carry over 180m more passengers over the next seven years - growth of more than 20%.

Extra capacity will be secured through additional new carriages and through re-deployment of existing carriages which will mean longer vehicles can run on busy routes and at peak times. The new carriages will increase the current rolling stock fleet of around 10% and around 100,000 extra seats each day on the busiest parts of the network. In Kent, Southeastern Railway will benefit from an additional 110 electrical multiple units (carriages) by 2014, meaning more space for the record numbers of commuters using the Medway-London route.

Speaking about the announcement, Paul Clark said, “I know from my postbag just how important a good rail service is to people in Gillingham and Rainham, and wholeheartedly welcome the Transport Secretary’s announcement. I am looking forward to working with Southeastern over the coming months to secure more improvements to the service and making sure that commuters’ views really matter to them, and I encourage constituents to contact me with their stories so I can keep up the pressure”.

Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly said: "Passenger numbers have grown by an unprecedented 40% over the last decade, so that more people than ever before are travelling by train. The Government is investing £10bn to increase capacity on the railways benefiting those travelling on the busiest routes in cities like Birmingham, Leeds, Newcastle, Manchester and London. "Following today's publication of the rolling stock plan, Network Rail can now begin their preparations for extending platforms, depots and sidings to accommodate longer trains. This is a major step forward towards fulfilling our commitment to tackle overcrowding on the busiest routes and, deliver real improvements for rail passengers."

Keep emailing Paul either using this website or at clarkp@parliament.uk with your views on the rail service.