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Commuters flock to new 140mph St Pancras trains
Dick Murray30.07.09
The launch of the 140mph rail service from Ashford to St Pancras International has been so successful more trains are to be introduced.
And it seems commuters are happy to pay more for a faster service.
Southeastern will start running the full timetable in December but is now looking to increase the service before then.
Charles Horton, Southeastern managing director, said the first month of operation on a limited basis had witnessed passenger numbers grow "above expectation".
Punctuality is also near-perfect at 99.1 per cent. The UK's fastest commuter trains, built by Hitachi, take just 37 minutes to travel between Ashford and St Pancras - slashing 40 minutes off the journey.
The service proved so popular in the first week that two peak-time trains, one morning and one evening, were doubled from six to 12 carriages.
Mr Horton said: "We are extremely pleased with the first month of the preview service. We have provided an excellent service to our passengers and seen the numbers grow consistently from week to week.
"We are now going to review the demand and look at the possibility of expanding the service frequency and destinations." Passengers pay a premium with fares up to 30 per cent more - a return from Ashford on the new £6million Javelin train costs £48.40p (compared with £40.60p for existing services).
From Gravesend, joining the HS1 Channel Tunnel high-speed link at Ebbsfleet, a return is £24.30 (£18).
Southeastern is spending more than £250million on the fleet of 29 trains which Mr Horton described as "great news for the people of Kent and the South-East".
To help pay for them Southeastern has been given permission to raise peak-times fares by three per cent above inflation across the franchise area - whether or not commuters use the high-speed trains.
