Direct Rush Hour Service to Charing Cross: southeastern "endeavouring to find a solution"

New Folkestone West County Councillor Tim Prater has had a reply from southeastern after raising concerns about the loss of peak hours direct services to Charing Cross from Folkestone stations saying "we do not lightly dismiss the needs of those commuting to Charing Cross. Our timetable team is endeavouring to find a solution and if we are able to go some way towards meeting local residents' commuting needs, we will."

Lib Dem Councillor Tim Prater has welcomed news that southeastern are reconsidering their draft timetable, and hopes that direct services to Charing Cross can be retained. Tim says:

"Many people have taken jobs near the Charing Cross area and indeed moved to Folkestone because it was possible to commute to Charing Cross. Although the new service to St Pancras is welcome, and will build up a customer base over time, southeastern simply cannot leave those who need to get to Charing Cross in the lurch.

"I sincerely hope that southeastern's reconsideration of the draft timetable will see direct services put back at peak times, and will continue to lobby southeastern to do so."

Tim Prater will seek to raise the issue directly with southeastern Managing Director Charles Horton at the preview launch of fast services from St Pancras to Ashford on 18 June.

The reply from Mike Gibson, Public Affairs Manager for southeastern, said:

"A rail franchise is a form of contract set by the Department for Transport (DfT) specifying the service pattern, subsidy levels, performance targets and other determinants it (the DfT) wishes to see on the network to which the franchise relates. The franchise is a legally binding document and any change has to be agreed by the DfT. The timetable is based on the service specification set by the DfT and our draft timetable for December this year is based upon the Integrated Kent Franchise (IKF) draft service specification we inherited as a contractual commitment when awarded the franchise in 2006. This draft service specification was itself the outcome of a consultation exercise carried out by the DfT and the former Strategic Rail Authority in 2003/04 and consultees included the Rail Passengers Council (now Passenger Focus), Kent County Council and Shepway District Council.

"Key this specification was to operate a high speed service from Ashford to London St. Pancras with links from towns on the Kent coast including Folkestone. As you are aware the newly built high speed section proper is between Ashford and St. Pancras and the trains to St. Pancras from Folkestone and other stations will run on the existing line to Ashford. As a result of capacity constraints this obviously required trade offs with other services and stopping patterns, and does, I'm afraid, impact on peak services to London Charing Cross.

"The implications of meeting this requirement of this particular part of the service specification were put to DfT officials before the draft timetable was released for public consultation last month.

"All timetables are a compromise between the franchise specification set by the DfT, the differing, but equally legitimate demands of different groups of rail users and the infrastructure and rolling stock resources available, and I'm afraid that no timetable will please every passenger. Within the commercial, operational and contractual constraints before us we do our best to meet our passengers' service and timetable aspirations, but sometimes this may not be possible.

"However, your point is well made and we do not lightly dismiss the needs of those commuting to Charing Cross. Our timetable team is endeavouring to find a solution and if we are able to go some way towards meeting local residents' commuting needs, we will. The outcome of yours and other stakeholder representations on the draft timetable will be published on our website once our own assessment of the commercial and operational implications of any changes are complete and discussions with the DfT, Network Rail and other industry partners have been concluded."