Passengers will be able to get on a train at Canterbury West and arrive in London just 56 minutes later when the service takes advantage of the new high-speed rail link in December.

The ultra-fast journeys have just been announced by Southeastern Trains in a draft timetable published on Thursday.

To take advantage of the quickest 56-minute journey, passengers will have to catch the weekday 8.25am departure which arrives at St Pancras International, via Ashford, at 9.21am. Current Canterbury-London journey times are around 1hr 49minutes.

The earliest proposed weekday high-speed train leaves Canterbury West at 5.25am, arriving at St Pancras at 6.23am. After the peak early morning period, the fast train option runs hourly until the peak evening return.

Sturry is also to get morning and evening fast journeys but disappointingly for residents of Wye, the village is not included on the route.

However, users of the high- speed service, which is due to start on Sunday, December 13, will pay a premium of up to 30 per cent over the standard fare.

But there will be other benefits for Canterbury West customers because the station is to undergo a significant upgrade.

Southeastern Trains spokesman Jon Hay-Campbell said the new timetable would provide a five per cent increase in trains across the region and was the biggest change to services in Kent for 40 years.

He added: "The peak period timetable will see many services re-timed, but it has been drafted to benefit the largest number of people. But, as with any timetable, there will always be some travellers that the changes don’t suit.

"It is still in draft form awaiting final approval from Network Rail, but any changes made before December are likely to be minor."