On the 5th September 2011 Southeastern extended Britain's first highspeed rail service to Deal station in Kent. It's hard not to be impressed with the Hitatchi Class 395 "Javelin" trains and there is a renaissance of commuters now arriving at Deal train station in the mornings to board the trains to London St Pancras.
Journeys times have been slashed (Stratford: 74mins) (St Pancras: 80mins) and the reliability of the service has been proven to be far superior to Classic mainline services. The service does cost a premium but an annual season ticket from Deal to London St Pancras equates to £20.15 a day which is competitive to road fuel prices, but admittedly it should be more competitive.
Although unemployment is rising alarmingly there are still plenty of job opportunities in London which has a vast and diverse career market. If you have skills which London companies can use and the right attitude there are always job opportunities. Commuting is not for everyone but when you consider the higher salaries and career options it can be appealing. It is in the interest of everyone in Deal that the highspeed commuter service grows, as Kent County Council who are funding this service have stressed "use it or lose it". Commuters earning higher salaries in London bring additional money into our local economy and it also increases the likelihood of a full highspeed service being introduced.
It's not one way traffic either! Friday night services from St Pancras to Deal have seen the highest passenger numbers as people have taken the opportunity to travel down direct to Deal via highspeed for a weekend break, which has taken Southeastern a little by surprise. This is fantastic news for our shops, hotels, restaurants, pubs, attractions... etc and should be encouraged as we have a unique identity in Deal which should be shared and capitalised on. I can't help conclude the noticeable improvement and investment into our High Street recently has been helped by the introduction of the highspeed service.
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