Transport for London’s (TfL) bid to take over parts of Southeastern’s rail network has been rejected by the transport secretary.

MP Chris Grayling said the proposals offered no real improvements for passengers and believes suburban trains should not come under the remit of the Mayor of London, who holds no accountability to people outside the capital.

Both Sadiq Khan and his predecessor Boris Johnson wanted to see TfL in control of some of the network run by Southeastern, which would include services to and from Dartford.

Mr Khan presented his case to Mr Grayling at a meeting last month, telling him that commuters had for too long had put up with “a bad service, with nightmare delays, cancellations and overcrowding”.

He continued: “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.”

The now foreign secretary Mr Johnson was similarly keen to extend TfL’s remit when he was London mayor and continued to make the case during a Brexit campaign visit to Europa Worldwide in Albion Road, Dartford back in March.

He was half an hour late because of train delays and told the crowd upon his arrival: “I apologise for being late, we have to take back control of Southeastern trains - it’s about time TfL (Transport for London) were given the running here!”

Thousands signed a petition calling for TfL to take over earlier this year, and Mr Grayling has now been accused of “playing politics” with the rail services.

Earlier this week the Evening Standard published a letter sent to Mr Johnson by Mr Grayling in 2013, in which he told Mr Johnson he was against rail devolution because he wanted to keep services away from any future Labour mayor.

Mr Grayling wrote: “While I am generally a great supporter of what you are doing in London, I would not be in favour of changing the current arrangements – not because I have any fears over the immediate future, but because I would like to keep suburban rail services out of the clutches of any future Labour Mayor.”

Dartford Labour deputy leader Cllr Daisy Page said: “I am extremely concerned to read that the Secretary of State for Transport, Chris Grayling MP, is playing politics with the rail services for commuters and residents across Dartford.

"Commuters and residents do not want political games - they want change and a rail service that is reliable and affordable" Cllr Daisy Page

“After years of poor service and escalating costs from Southeastern, Dartford commuters and residents do not want political games - they want change and a rail service that is reliable and affordable.

“I am extremely disappointed that this government has broken another of election promises to make commuter rail services more reliable, frequent and affordable.”

Cllr Page, who signed the aforementioned petition, also accused Dartford MP Gareth Johnson of being “out of touch” with the views of the town’s commuters.

Although critical of Southeastern’s services, Mr Johnson has also doubted whether suburban services should be controlled by someone who does not answer to those who use them.

However, he has an open mind to the prospect of a takeover so long as there are guarantees that Dartford commuters can expect a reliable service.

“Dartford was always in the most precarious position over this issue given the fact that we are in Kent and not London,” he said.

“I had an open mind about TfL taking over our services and I asked them for guarantees for Dartford commuters. I will want those same guarantees from whoever takes over the franchise.

“Reliability is a big issue on our train services and with 70% of delays coming from Network Rail, sorting out this issue is essential.”

In June, Southeastern came joint bottom with Southern in a national customer satisfaction survey, scoring just 69%.

The Passenger Focus survey also had them bottom and second-bottom respectively for reliability and punctuality, with satisfaction ratings of 53% and 56% for each.

Unsurprisingly, customers didn’t think they were getting value for money, with just 30% of Southeastern passengers happy about the cost of their tickets.

Prices are set to rise by just under 2% next year, but it is hoped that a new Oyster card-style scheme introduced this week will make booking and travel quicker and more covenient for passengers.