Where do all the tourists go …….
Well, of course, they go home – eventually. But, first, they have to get here. And many of those tourists coming and going are doing so by rail. So, when they get home, how will they reflect on their trip to Rye ?
MLAG has, again, looked at the difficulties tourists encounter getting to and from Rye. Last weekend we found the following (some numbers approximated; times are all at Rye).
Saturday morning (when crowding is in the direction from Ashford to Rye):
10.48 – 120 left behind at Ashford
11.48 – 70 left behind
12.48 – 20 left behind
Saturday afternoon/ evening (so crowding is in the direction from Rye to Ashford):
15.48 – 50 left behind at Rye
16.48 – 79 left behind
17.48 – 109 left behind
Sunday morning:
10.48 – 70 left behind at Ashford
11.48 – 30 left behind
Sunday afternoon/ evening:
18.48 – 102 left behind at Rye. See attached photo taken after no more passengers were able to board the train with more still piling onto the platform
19.48 – 57 left behind, most took a replacement bus which appeared without announcement
[20 48 – unable to check]
21.48 – train cancelled, replacement bus announced
22.37 – replacement bus announced
So, there were some very unhappy tourists.
We don’t know if the Pride rally in Brighton had any effect on numbers – we wouldn’t have thought so, travelling via Rye is now (with the cutting of the service at Eastbourne) a train change too much. We don’t say the overcrowding at Rye is comparable with the problems at Brighton last weekend. But the Rye situation was bad and dangerous !
Stuart Harland
Chairman
MarshLink Action Group