Letter: Retain Direct Rush Hour Services to Charing Cross

I'm emailing directly regarding the draft December 2009 onwards timetable from the Folkestone area to London Charing Cross following the introduction of High Speed services to London St Pancras.

As I'm sure you will appreciate, there are many people living in Folkestone (using Folkestone Central, Folkestone West, Sandling and Westernhanger stations) that commute daily to London - and specifically, to places near to Charing Cross Station. The service from Charing Cross to Folkestone has been in place for many years, and as such, a regular commuter base to that area has built up.

The introduction of the fast service to St Pancras, welcome though it is, and I hope it will be used by a large number of people and increase the overall number of passengers, does not remove the need for commuter services to Charing Cross from the area to serve those users who need to get to that area, and have relied on your service to do so for years.

On looking at the draft timetable however, it seems there has been an oversight in dealing with those commuters to Charing Cross, in that I can see no direct service leaving the Folkestone stations that arrives in Charing Cross between 7.25 and 9.25 Monday - Friday. I hope my reading of the timetable is incorrect (and if so, please do tell me!). Equally, in the evening, there are slow services back from Charing Cross at peak service times. As was raised with me by one local resident:

"This is a golden opportunity to provide a train service calling all stations to Ashford and then fast to Charing Cross leaving about 7.15 and arriving about 8.30 - 8.45. The same fast service should be provided in the eveing leaving Charing Cross around 17.30 and getting back to Folkestone around 18.45 -19.00. There are services currently operating during the day that take less than an hour and a half to do the journey. Trains can pass slower trains at Headcorn, Paddock Wood, Tonbridge and Sevenoaks."

This approach would be hugely welcomed by the commuters who use your existing services, and who would be massively inconvenienced by being diverted to St Pancras in entirely the wrong end of the city.

I really hope it is possible that some peak time direct fast services can be restored to the timetable, as I'm sure is in the best interests of Southeastern.

I look forward to hearing from you soon.