COMMUTERS from east Kent face delayed journeys to London until Connex has sorted out the problems affecting its new fleet of 375 trains. The company has admitted that "major difficulties" with the new rolling stock were causing hold ups between Canterbury and London Victoria, via Faversham.

All trains from Faversham will run behind schedule until a solution is found to the problem of "splitting and attaching" the 375s, said Connex. Travellers have grown increasingly frustrated by the delays to their journey times to and from work caused by the problems.

Dennis Prior, a regular commuter from Canterbury, who lives in Abbots Barton Walk, said: "Within the last two weeks Connex have downgraded the Canterbury East to London service. The two through trains to London are now all stations to Bromley South and if you require the faster service you have to change at Faversham and vice versa.

"Previously, both services ran semi-fast to London after joining with a portion from Ramsgate. There are no posters or displays at Canterbury East publicising the change."

In a statement, Connex said: "The good news is that we did publicise the change at Christmas at stations affected. The bad news is we probably didn't advertise for long enough. We refuse, despite adverse publicity, to bring the trains in until they are ready.

"We are focusing hard on resolving all technical issues so we can bring the new trains in as soon as possible and restore the Faversham service for the benefit of our passengers and staff."