High speed trains from Ashford will leave twice an hour for London when the full service begins in December.

Southeastern’s newly-issued online timetable shows that trains between Ashford International and St Pancras International will run from just after 5am at weekdays through until after 11pm.

From Sunday, December 13, services will be mostly twice an hour seven days a week with a similar frequency of trains for Folkestone.

The new timetable covers both high speed and standard services and shows an extra 200 trains a day throughout Southeastern’s region.

Charles Horton, managing director of Southeastern, said: “We have worked hard over a number of years with all stakeholders to get to this point.

“This new timetable is very important for Kent. It will help provide more choice for passengers, it will mean the full introduction of high speed services and help us continue to improve our performance levels.”

A limited preview high speed service has existed since June and has gradually increased, recently including weekends.

From December the first weekday train from Ashford to London leaves at 0513 and gets in at 0551 and most subsequent ones leave at the 13 and 43 minutes past each hour.

Passengers from Folkestone leave from the central station 0449 to catch the 0513 from Ashford. Their service either means changing at Ashford or going directly to London.

The very last high speed weekday train from London to Ashford leaves at 2342 and arrives at 0019.

The last Folkestone train leaves St Pancras at 2312 and arrives at Folkestone Central at 0009.

The Ashford to London services has been for months advertised as a 37-minute journey although this is an average time.

Actual times can be 36 or 40 minutes depending on whether a train also stops at Ebbsfleet.

The new timetable is now available to view online at www.southeasternrailway.co.uk and from stations from mid-November.