Folkestone to London in 49 minutes

A KEY figure in Folkestone's regeneration has branded revised, 50-minute commuting times "fantastic".

Southeastern, which will be running the new high-speed link to London from December 2009, has revised its estimated journey times to 52 minutes from Folkestone Central to St Pancras International and 49 minutes from Folkestone West.

This is compared to the current duration of journeys, 101 and 99 minutes respectively.

Speaking for the Creative Foundation, Peter Betley said: "Improved journey times of this kind will, I think, make Folkestone the most attractive coastal destination in the southeast."

Southeastern had originally estimated the journey would take 63 minutes from Folkestone but recent testing and other research has led them to predict the further time savings.

Mr Betley said: "This makes journey times comparable to those from London to Brighton, a place that has always enjoyed success because it's so close in time to the capital.

"This will be a significant boost to Folkestone because it effectively halves commuting time, which can only help the town's efforts at regeneration.

"Even people coming from unconnected stations like Sandling, who will change at Ashford, will have significantly reduced journeys.

"It's fantastic."

A spokesman for Southeastern reminded commuters that times were estimations. He said: "This is a huge step forward and gives thousands of our passengers a whole new range of choices about where they live, how they travel to work and how they link up with rail connections to other parts of the country and the Continent. We're proud to be at the forefront of this most exciting adventure, yet remain determined to provide passengers on all our trains with a level of service that is consistently high.

"We believe that many communities in Kent with access to our new high-speed services will enjoy unprecedented opportunities for growth and regeneration, and some £10 billion of mixed use development is expected to be created along the HS1 rail route.

"With Folkestone set to be less than an hour away from London by high-speed train, it is ideally placed to reap similar benefits in the years ahead."

Source: This is Kent