Rail passengers in Sandwich and
Deal can now enjoy a faster commute to London, after the first
high speed train set off to the capital earlier this
morning.

The service left Sandwich at 5.50am,
calling at Deal six minutes later and arriving at St Pancras
International at 7.18am - less than 90 minutes after leaving the
Kent coast.

Further trains left Sandwich at
6.18am and 6.50am, with two return services scheduled to leave
London at 5.40pm and 6.40pm.

Ian Killbery and Tom Rowland from Trains4deal, who spent months campaigning to bring high speed trains to the town, were among those set to board the first service.

They were due to be joined by the MP
for Dover and Deal, Charlie Elphicke, and the Mayor of Deal, Cllr
Jim Cronk.

Mr Killbery said: "This is an historic
moment for the town, signalling hope for regeneration with much
faster links to and from London, especially if we get the service
to develop and expand.

"We'll keep up the pressure for
daytime services that will be of more benefit to local tourism and
off-peak travellers."