News

I travelled into London Charing Cross from Ashford on the normal service which took 1hr 17minutes. I had a business meeting near Goodge Street and realised that the tube journey from there to St Pancras was as quick as going back to Charing Cross, so I decided to upgrade and take the 17.37 high speed service.

Thanks to my senior railcard the upgrade only cost £2.90.

The new St Pancras station in itself is worth a visit and I was amazed by the choice of catering available from pasties to sushi with just about everything in between. I settled into a comfortable window seat on the sporty looking “bullet” train which departed smoothly bang on time.

It quickly picked up speed and in no time we were passing the north side of the QE bridge soon after to arrive at Ebbsfleet.

After a short stop we were soon racing the M2 traffic down across the Medway where the line then traces across to race the M20 traffic into Ashford. Boy racers beware you have no chance so don’t even try .

The whole experience took just 38 minutes and the personal time gained was worth the supplement.

I am aware that the service has caused some unwelcome time changes to regular services but hopefully the rail companies can improve on this meanwhile I am sure a lot of people will benefit when the it becomes fully operational in December.

David Godfrey
Hawkinge