A consultation on three potential options to extend the Crossrail line from London into Kent is reaching its closing stages.

The Elizabeth Line extension beyond Abbey Wood to Ebbsfleet has been put forward with transport bosses setting out different ideas.

The C2E Partnership was set up in 2016 – and includes Kent, Gravesham and Dartford councils – to make transport quicker and less reliant on trips by car and put forward five options ahead of a previous consultation last year.

Those options have since been whittled down to three and it is those which the public is now being asked for their opinions in a consultation which closes next Thursday.

Public opinion will be used to shape the final assessment and decision on which will be the preferred option.

A business case will then be presented to the government calling for further investment in the transport links between Kent and the capital and bring improvements to infrastructure in the north of the county.

The first option proposes an extension of the Elizabeth Line from Abbey Wood to Northfleet, Ebbsfleet and Gravesend on the existing National Rail tracks.

A second idea could be to extend Crossrail out of south east London to Dartford on new tracks built alongside the existing north Kent line increasing service frequency between Dartford and Northfleet.

The third proposal would improve the National Rail service from Abbey Wood to Northfleet in combination with a new "Bus Rapid Transit service".

It would see the Fastrack buses between Abbey Wood and Ebbsfleet tied in with stations along the current north Kent rail route.

Speaking on the launch of the consultation for the options in July, Kent County Council cabinet member for transport David Brazier said: "This is an opportunity for residents and businesses to give their views on how important improved public transport links are to them and can demonstrate to government how important new public transport links are to the future of this area."

Gravesham and Dartford council leaders John Burden and Jeremy Kite have long called for Crossrail to be extended into North Kent.

Kent is currently the only one of the Home Counties not served by Crossrail 1 or 2, known as the Elizabeth Line, on the London Underground map.

"This is an opportunity for residents and businesses to give their views on how important improved public transport links are to them..."

Early plans for the £18bn rail project, which was originally due to open in 2018, had included running the line out towards Gravesend.

But this was later curbed and a later review recommended instead stopping at Abbey Wood.

Kent County Council said in its draft Rail strategy, published last year, that an Elizabeth Line extension to Ebbsfleet was "unlikely" this decade.

In the same document it went on to explain how it could be contingent on the London Resort theme park proposals on the Swanscombe Peninsula getting the go ahead.

It said a "substantial contribution" could be asked for to support the local transport infrastructure needed.

To comment via the consultation page visit the Kent County Council website here.

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