Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much his Department has spent on rail improvements in East Kent in each of the last five years.

The Department for Transport does not hold investment data in the format requested and this could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. However, over the last five years, the Government has made significant investment which benefit East Kent. This includes the introduction of several new high speed services (including at Martin Mill station); ongoing work to deliver line speed improvements between Ashford International and Ramsgate and a traction power supply upgrade to facilitate the operation of longer trains. The train operator has committed to making improvements worth more than £70m across the franchise area by 2018.