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Kent Coast Railway Line

At the end of the day, when the Department lets a franchise, it lets a franchise associated with a timetable, so I suppose one could say that that gives it a certain degree of definition, but the process has always been as described. The hon. Gentleman made frequent reference to 16 people writing timetables. People may be engaged in writing timetables as part of their role, but to suggest that there are 16 people sitting around doing nothing but writing timetables is perhaps disingenuous. As I was saying, consultations took place as far back as 2003 and 2004 to determine the minimum service level required to meet current and future demand in the region. The Strategic Rail Authority published the findings from that consultation in January 2005 in the integrated Kent franchise stakeholder briefing document. The document's objectives require potential franchisees to develop and deliver a financially and operationally robust strategy; deliver a safe and reliable high-quality service for customers; deliver value-for-money services; support the development of the Government's communities plan in the south-east to meet the transport needs of defined areas and deliver accurate information on services and future demand to enable the development of the franchise during its term and for the next refranchising of the integrated Kent franchise. The franchise was awarded to Southeastern in 2006. Since then, Southeastern has undertaken further extensive consultation with local stakeholders as it has developed the detailed timetable required to meet the specification. Southeastern has also undertaken extensive market research on travel patterns and preferences across its network. That study looked at demand for services now and in the future. It is important to set out exactly what services are available for customers travelling along the Kent coast. The December 2009 timetable specifies services along the Kent coast to London Cannon Street, London Victoria, London Bridge and London St. Pancras stations, so services operate to four London terminal stations, whereas most other train operators serve only one or, if they are lucky, two London terminal stations. As a result of the new timetable, there are fewer services to London Bridge and Cannon Street in the early morning and late evening, and fewer services to London Victoria during peak times. However, with the introduction of high-speed services, the overall number of trains is broadly the same as it was before the new timetable was introduced. That means that Southeastern customers along the Kent coast now enjoy unparalleled access to and from London and have a fantastic number of journey options. The introduction of high-speed services has required a restructuring of the service patterns on the Southeastern network to account for introducing services to London St. Pancras. The changes are founded on the premise of developing a better timetable based on meeting customer demand and providing greater choice in stations served. For example, commuters can, if they wish, choose to travel to St. Pancras, which offers, as I suggested, excellent connections to many parts of London.