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Kent Coast Railway Line

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship this afternoon, Mr. Benton. It would be normal for me to congratulate the hon. Member for North Thanet (Mr. Gale) on securing this debate on rail services to and from the north Kent coast, and I recognise that his contribution was forceful. The contribution of the hon. Member for Faversham and Mid-Kent (Hugh Robertson) was thoughtful, that of my hon. Friend the Member for Dover (Gwyn Prosser) was well focused, that of the hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington (Tom Brake) was somewhat tangential, and that of the hon. Member for Wimbledon (Stephen Hammond) was, as usual, better informed than a contribution from the shadow Secretary of State for Transport would have been. If I am unable to deal with any of the issues that have been raised, I will ensure that I write to hon. Members. I shall start by outlining some of the benefits that have been and will be derived from high-speed services in Kent. The introduction of such services has facilitated a number of journey time improvements across the network for existing users who wish to take advantage of them. In addition, high-speed services will create new markets for and in Kent, and will contribute to the regeneration of the area. That will be achieved, in part, by much greater connectivity between Kent and areas such as the docklands, the midlands and the north of England. The current timetable started on 13 December 2009. It represents the biggest change to train services in the area for more than 50 years. It offers integrated main line, metro and high-speed services across Kent, south-east London and East Sussex, and offers more choice to people who live or work in Kent or visit the area.