JOURNEY times from St Pancras to the heart of Kent will be slashed by more than 40 minutes when the new Javelin engine enters service later this month, says train company Southeastern.
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At the moment, it takes about 1 hour 20 minutes to travel from Ashford, Kent, to St Pancras in London. The new Japanese-built 140mph Javelins will do the same trip in 37 minutes.
Meanwhile, the journey from Ebbsfleet, also in Kent, will be slashed to just 17 minutes, enough time to read the free paper from cover to cover and still have time to phone home to announce your impending arrival.
The catch to the new service, which starts on 29 June, is that it will cost a bit more than the current fare; £26.60, compared to £22.20 for a single fare.
The Ashford-St Pancras speed-up is billed by Southeastern as a “preview” service, ahead of its full opening in December. This is said to explain the fare rise.
“The fares that we are announcing today are for the preview service only and we feel they offer value for money for passengers,” said Southeastern MD Charles Horton.
