Sheerness Line. Opened by the London, Chatham and Dover Railway in 1858, the station is now managed by Southeastern who operate all services. The station is served by regular mainline and high speed services to , London St Pancras International (via High Speed 1), The Medway Towns, Canterbury, Dover and Ramsgate as well as by an hourly shuttle service to . Most bus services in Sittingbourne are provided by Chalkwell Coaches who operate services 326, 327, 347 and 349 to Chatham, Gillingham, Rainham, Upchurch, Newington, Kemsley and Murston. Sittingbourne is also served by the Arriva Southern Counties route 334 to Maidstone, Iwade, Minster and Sheerness and by the Stagecoach South East route X3 to Maidstone, Teynham, Faversham and Canterbury. The towns bus services all serve Sittingbourne Bus Hub which opened in 2019. Sittingbourne is geographically located midway between the major port of Dover and London. The first significant transport connection to the town was the Roman construction of Watling Street, now the A2 main road. The M2 motorway bypasses the town to the south. The A249 passes the town on the west, heading between Maidstone and Sheerness. Sittingbourne and Kemsley Light Railway The preserved former paper mill railway the Sittingbourne and Kemsley Light Railway still exists today. In 1965 it was decided that the railway was uneconomic, so lorries were more commonly used for transporting produce. Consequently, by 1969 the Bowater Light Railway, much loved as it was by the firm (and with assistance of Capt Peter Manisty) was handed over to the Locomotive Club of Great Britain to be preserved and operated as the Sittingbourne and Kemsley Light Railway. It has since become a significant feature in the town's tourist industry, and provides the only method of transport to the annual Sittingbourne Beer Festival. However, it has been under threat of closure since 2008 when M-real sold the site to a property developer. Media The local radio station for Sittingbourne is 106.9 SFM. They provide a full local community radio service and have been broadcasting since Thursday 26 July 2012. The local newspaper is called KM Sittingbourne Messenger and the mid-week edition KM Sittingbourne News Extra, published by the KM Group. In December 2011, the East Kent Gazette, the town's other local newspaper, closed down with the loss of 39 jobs, having been the town's local news outlet since 1856. Notable people Roger Moate (1938–2019), Conservative politician Eileen Greenwood