Library image – Highspeed train departing from Dover Priory
More trains will be re-introduced to the train timetable, beginning on December 12, supporting jobs and the economy across Kent, East Sussex and south-east London.
It’s part of Southeastern’s push to win back passengers to the railway by encouraging people to ditch their cars onto cleaner, greener journeys by electric train.
With 90% of leisure travellers having returned to the railway at weekends and during the half-term holiday, boosting the economy of the south-east, Southeastern is seeing around 40% of commuters returning to the railway for regular work journeys.
To encourage more people to take the train, making an environmentally friendly travel option, Southeastern is making a number of improvements, including:
- The re-reinstatement of off-peak Highspeed trains at Deal and Sandwich on the Ramsgate and Dover line, with better connections timed between Highspeed trains and Mainline trains.
- The re-introduction of trains leaving Charing Cross after midnight to south-east London and west Kent, making weeknights out in London’s West End easier and more convenient.
- A new Saturday late-night service departing Hastings at 23:30 for Tonbridge – allowing people in East Sussex and West Kent to make the most of the town’s nightlife and boosting the evening economy.
- A small number of additional trains will also be introduced during the daytime between Maidstone East and London.