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The Prosser Perspective.... a weekly column from Dover and Deal MP Gwyn Prosser.

2 October 2009

After the long 10 year lobbying campaign to extend the high speed train link to Dover it’s great to see the Javelin trains running on peak time services to London, St Pancras and I was pleased to learn that the usage has been so great that they are now doubling the number of carriages to meet the growing demand.

In December the full high speed service will be operation from Dover Priory to London but the story doesn’t end there and nor does the lobbying because there’s lots more to do.

I’ve been corresponding with the Chief Executive of the train operator, Southeastern, over recent months trying to improve the timetable of the standard train services between Dover Priory and London Victoria. The services that stop at Kearsney, Shepherdswell and Snowdown etc. have been changed for the worse causing problems for commuters and other regular users – we expected there would be some compromising of services when the high speed train started but not to the extent proposed.

Last week in Westminster, I met with the Southeastern Chief Executive to hear what his response was to my representations and to discuss the prospect of the high speed trains being extended to Deal.

Southeastern have recognised the inconvenience the changes would cause some people and they’ve made some adjustments to allow more stopping trains at Shepherdswell. It won’t solve all the problems but the Chief Executive has agreed to review the timetable again once they’ve bedded down.

It’s going to be a tough fight to get the high speed train extended to Deal but the operating company has agreed to look at ways of improving connectivity between Deal, Walmer and Dover to enable wider access to the Javelin services.

When I travelled on the first HST from Dover to London we completed the journey in just over an hour but it could be done in just under an hour if the train didn’t make so many stops

Ashford and Ebsfleet are very necessary strategic stops and I don’t mind the train stopping at Folkestone – but stopping at Folkestone Central and Folkestone West (which are less than 1 minute apart) is, to my mind, a stop too many.

I’ve been pressing the company to address this issue for some time and this week at the Labour Party conference I have taken it up with Ministers. The rationale for the two stops is that Folkestone Central doesn’t have enough parking space and there’s no way of making additional provision. I wholly accept this but the obvious solution is to abandon the stop at Central and enhance parking at Folkestone West. Afterall, the vast majority of HST users will be driving or taking a taxi to their departure station so those who might have to travel a few extra miles will hardly be inconvenienced.

Taking out this unnecessary stop will enable Dover to boast that we are now less than an hour from London. The one hour limit might just be a psychological barrier, it’s an important one and it’s worth fighting for.