---

Kent Coast Railway Line

The hon. Gentleman has his views—others beg to differ. It is important to recognise that introducing these services has significantly reduced journey times to several parts of Kent and, while the hon. Gentleman has made the argument that journey time-savings for his constituents are not significant, the Department feels that a typical high-speed journey time of 1 hour and 31 minutes from Margate to St. Pancras during the morning peak represents a significant time saving for travel to London. It represents an approximate time-saving of 15 to 25 minutes on main line services to London Cannon Street and London Victoria stations. It is recognised that journeys on main line services along the Kent coast generally take longer than they did before the introduction of the new timetable. That is because they call at more stations, and that is based on the desire to improve choice for customers. In addition to stops at those new stations, all destinations scheduled before December continue to be served. I heard the concerns of the hon. Member for Faversham and Mid-Kent about Selling, which I will certainly take on board and consider, as well as his concerns about the stabling of class 395 trains at Faversham. Although I am sure that he is engaging with his local authority over his concerns about noise, I will commit to talking to Southeastern because the concerns are obviously real and immediate for his constituents. I am aware that there has been a performance problem on the Southeastern network since the end of December 2009. That has been caused principally by the adverse weather conditions and unreliable infrastructure. Having said that, on a number of days, over 93 per cent. of trains arrived on time. It is important to state that poor performance on the Southeastern network since the introduction of the December 2009 timetable is not a result of the introduction of the high-speed service. Since the introduction of the Southeastern franchise in April 2006, performance on the Southeastern network has improved markedly. At the end of rail industry period 9, from 15 November to 12 December 2009, Southeastern achieved a public performance measure moving annual average score of 91.1 per cent. That figure has dropped since the new timetable was introduced but, as has been mentioned, that is due to adverse weather conditions and infrastructure reliability problems. The level of investment that Southeastern has implemented since the commencement of its franchise in April 2006, with almost £700 million invested in new rolling stock and infrastructural improvements, reflects the general improvement in performance on the Southeastern network. It has been suggested that there is little demand for high-speed services and the requirement to call at St. Pancras. It has also been claimed that the majority of people who use Kent coastal services wish to travel to London Cannon Street and London Victoria stations. Since the commencement of its franchise in April 2006, Southeastern has undertaken extensive market research into travel patterns and preferences across its network. That research indicated that St. Pancras was an attractive destination for people in Kent, and that the improved journey times resulting from the introduction of high-speed services across Kent would lead to a dramatically different demand for rail services in Kent. Southeastern's research confirmed that the specification for the franchise was correct and that a number off-peak leisure markets could be developed as a result of the introduction of the high-speed service. The standard forecast modelling tools used in the rail industry suggest that it generally takes some years for a new market to reach its full potential. The Department's view is that it is far too early to judge the merits of the recently introduced high-speed services to St. Pancras. That is not meant to imply that the service is not being monitored rigorously, but it does mean that snap judgements will not be made about the success of the new services. The argument has also been made that customers from the constituency of the hon. Member for North Thanet are not using the high-speed service. Information provided by Southeastern indicates that in the four-week period between 11 January 2010 and 6 February 2010, one in three journeys from his constituency took place on high-speed services, which represents a good take-up rate during the short period for which the service has been operating. In conclusion, the Department, train operators and other stakeholders have worked hard to deliver high-speed trains to Kent successfully. Inevitably, there have been changes to the timetable affecting other services, but it is early days to judge the final pattern of usage and satisfaction in Kent.