Two major developments to the local infrastructure were completed in 2003: improvements to the M2 motorway and construction of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link.

Work started in 2000 on the widening of the A2/M2 between Cobham and Junction 4 and involved:

• the excavation of 7 million cubic metres of earth,
• the use of 3,050 cubic metres of concrete,
• the use of 9,955 tonnes of steel reinforcement,
• the use of 3,725 tonnes of structural steel in bridge decks,
• the crushing and re-use of 206,100 cubic metres of old road and bridges,
• the erection of 1,240 lighting columns.

The project included the construction of the 1km Medway Bridge, which runs 30 metres over the river and is sandwiched within 20 metres of the existing Medway Bridge and the Channel Tunnel Rail Link Bridge, and the construction of 30 other bridges.

Transport Minister David Jamieson officially opened the completed 17km widening scheme on 30 July 2003 and stated, "This scheme heralds a new age for people living in the North Kent corridor. It will make developments like Kent Thameside more accessible and will create new employment and access to jobs through better links across the south-east, between London and the rest of Europe”. Work started on the first phase of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL) in October 1998. This is the 74km Section 1 from the Channel Tunnel to Fawkham Junction in North Kent.

Union Railways (South) Ltd (URS) formally took over Section 1 from Rail Link Engineering (RLE) at a ceremony on 22 August 2003 by signing the handover certificate. Commercial services started as scheduled on 28 September 2003.

During safety tests on 30 July 2003, Eurostar had shattered the speed record for the fastest ever train in the UK when it reached 208mph running on Section 1 through Kent.

The final section of the CTRL, now called High Speed 1, was completed in the summer of 2007. Linking North Kent with St Pancras International station in central London, High Speed 1 opened on time and within budget on 14 November 2007. Journeys between Paris and London will take 2 hours 15 minutes, instead of the 2 hours 35 minutes they take today. St Pancras International station will become the international terminus for Eurostar services and from 2009, high-speed domestic services will run from St Pancras to Medway and Kent.

Related pages

• The Royal Dockyard
• Rochester Castle
• Rochester Cathedral
• The story of Rochester Bridge
• Gillingham Football Club

Sources:

• Department for Transport website (www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/rail/pi/ctrl/thechanneltunnelraillinkintr341)
• A2/M2 Widening Newsletter (CSM), Issue 13 August 2003

Prehistoric Medway
350,000 BC – 43AD

Roman Medway
43 – 410

Anglo-Saxon Medway
410 – 1066

Medieval Medway
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Tudor Medway
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Medway in the 17th century
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Georgian Medway
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Victorian Medway
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Medway in the 20th century
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Medway in the 21st century