Commuters in Dartford could soon be heading into the capital on trains run by Transport for London (TfL) after the Mayor of London backed its bid to take over Southeastern’s franchise.

Sadiq Khan presented his case for devolving suburban rail services to TfL during a meeting with transport secretary Chris Grayling on Monday, telling him that commuters had been enduring a bad service for too long.

Earlier this year Southeastern was ranked as one of the worst rail operators in the country for customer satisfaction and a petition to have it replaced was signed by more than 15,000 people, including plenty from Dartford.

Among those who signed was Dartford Labour deputy leader Cllr Daisy Page, who was quick to welcome Mr Khan’s proposals.

“The service provided to Dartford commuters by Southeastern has been terrible for several years now, with little to no accountability,” she said.

“It is clear that the Department for Transport’s management of Southeastern has failed to support the economic and social needs of the residents of Dartford who commute to and from London every day.”

Kent County Council is also in favour of a TfL takeover and is writing to the transport secretary to show its support, as is Dartford Labour.

The government agreed in principle to further devolution of rail services back in January and a successful TfL bid could see it take over Southeastern’s franchise as early as 2018.

Mr Khan said that TfL’s proven track record of running underground and overground services in the capital showed it could run services to the same standard in the suburbs.

“The service provided to Dartford commuters by Southeastern has been terrible for several years now, with little to no accountability" Cllr Daisy Page

As reported by The Guardian, he said: “For too long, London’s rail commuters have been getting a bad service, with nightmare delays, cancellations and overcrowding increasingly the norm on suburban rail routes.

“Our plans will not only use TfL’s skills and expertise to improve the daily commute for millions of Londoners, but act as a catalyst for new jobs and homes in outer London.

“Devolution, along with greater collaboration with our public and private sector partners and local communities, will help us deliver a properly integrated transport network across London.

“Rail passengers will finally get the same standard of service and reliability they get on the Tube.”

Mr Khan also highlighted more frequent services, cleaner stations, more staff and a greater rollout of the Oyster card as benefits Kent commuters could see under TfL.

Although Dartford has already benefited from the Oyster card – which could extend to Stone Crossing, Greenhithe, Swanscombe, Northfleet and Gravesend under TfL – Dartford MP Gareth Johnson remains wary of the bid.

He said: “This is something TfL has been talking about for some time. As a commuter I am aware of the failings of Southeastern and so I am open to this idea but I am not prepared to give TfL a blank cheque over this.

“I want to see a number of assurances for local commuters. I want assurances there will be no extra price increases in Dartford, no cuts in services or stops and the rolling out of the Oyster card at all stations that TfL would cover.

“The Mayor of London is not accountable to us. I don’t want to see a situation where the Mayor of London cuts our services or puts up our ticket prices rather than those in London.

“The brutal fact is we need these assurances to protect local commuters from being treated less favourably than those who can vote in London Mayoral elections.”