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The
official opening of the first section of the CTRL marks the completion
of the first new mainline railway in Britain for more than a century.
The
first part of the line to be opened is from Folkestone to Fawkenham
Junction.
The
trains are just one of the benefits that were promised when the
Government sold the CTRL to Kent and the country.
In
return for driving a huge scar through the heart of the Garden of
England we would be rewarded with jobs and investment into depressed
areas of Kent, fast links to the continent, fast links to London.
And the private sector would pay for most of it.
 Simon
Long-Price, from BBC Radio Kent, examines whether those
promises are being kept. Listen
>>
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Section
one of the link reached a milestone with the client Union Railways
formally accepting the railway as ready for commercial services
on the 22nd August 2003, when they officially took over the 46 miles
of track from Rail Link Engineering.
Major
civil engineering works for Section two, the 24 miles between Southfleet
in north Kent and St Pancras in central London began in July 2001.
When
it is complete in 2007, the £5.2billion link will halve journey
times from central London to the Channel Tunnel. The CTRL will also
provide the fixed infrastructure for Kent commuters to benefit from
new high speed domestic services to London.
There
have been concerns that the line will by-pass Thanet, Mid Kent,
Canterbury and the Medway towns.
Have your say
on the CTRL
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