High Speed Service from Kent - effect on fares etc

[whole diary]

[Btline]

Ok! I was refering to the Bank branch to The City. (being fully knowedegable of the LU network thanks )

I'll just remember to be more careful when I post lest I upset other people.

[JayMac]

Ok! I was refering to the Bank branch to The City. (being fully knowedegable of the LU network thanks )

I'll just remember to be more careful when I post lest I upset other people.

Not upset in the slightest Bt I don't pretend to be fully knowledgeable of the LU Network, so I always check the map to see which lines go where.....

[Btline]

Here's more evidence of the "Southeastern Axe":

http://www.thisiskent.co.uk/westkent/Rail-services-City-kept/article-1186166-detail/article.html

[willc]

The Javelin preview trains will be extended beyond Ashford from September 7, running from and to Ramsgate, Canterbury, Dover and Folkestone Central, plus an off-peak London-Ashford-London run in the middle of the day. See http://www.southeasternrailway.co.uk/index.php/news/news_items/view/110

[Btline]

Most of these places will see a cut of 50% in their existing fast services to Victoria/London Bridge in December.

It's a shame the line to Ore is not electrified from Ashford, as the Javelins would be very useful if they could take some of the Brighton Mainline's strain by removing East Sussex/ East Coastway passengers off the Haywards Heath Route.

Bexhill to London is over 2 hours at the moment, going via HS1^▸ (High Speed line 1 - St Pancras to Channel Tunnel) and an upgraded line to Ashford could cut this in half.

[willc]

You don't really expect them to keep running lots of empty trains do you?

It's pretty clear from the response to the initial Javelin trains from Ashford that people are going to use the full service from December in big numbers - and not everyone from Kent is going to work in the City - for them, not going to London Bridge and Cannon Street may be a blessing, as neither is great for Underground connections, something you can't say about Kings Cross St Pancras.

[Btline]

You don't really expect them to keep running lots of empty trains do you?

It's pretty clear from the response to the initial Javelin trains from Ashford that people are going to use the full service from December in big numbers - and not everyone from Kent is going to work in the City - for them, not going to London Bridge and Cannon Street may be a blessing, as neither is great for Underground connections, something you can't say about Kings Cross St Pancras.

Of course people are flocking to the previews.

But when commuters come to renew their tickets at the end of the year, it will be a different story, recession or none.

However, I expect most people that use the Javelins will only do so thanks to the cuts - but of course, that's what SE are banking on...

[willc]

Passengers are already paying extra to use the preview service and they might quite like it that the trains are faster - something which on a certain other line you keep assuring us would attract the people of Worcester in their droves.

[devon_metro]

But when commuters come to renew their tickets at the end of the year, it will be a different story, recession or none.

However, I expect most people that use the Javelins will only do so thanks to the cuts - but of course, that's what SE are banking on...

I quite imagine that the First Class passengers will be very happy, as their season ticket will be going down if they choose to use the faster service!

You seem fairly convinced that there will be a mass exodus of the service come December which I find very hard to believe. People value their time, and with lots of development occurring near Kings CRoss and excellent links to the north of England it will become very useful for business. In fact, whilst some of the city workers might be a littler peeved off, there is a massive potential for a new market of commuter to the north of London aswell as cross London tranfers via St Pancras on business trips to the north of the country.

Besides, how difficult is a trip to Straford, Jubilee/DLR^▸ (Docklands Light Railway) to Canary Wharf or NXEA^▸ (National Express East Anglia) to Liverpool Street, or even the Central line to Bank. Nobody says that everybody will be travelling to St Pancras, as the Northern Line is a nightmare.