by Graham Tutthill

The full high-speed rail service from Dover got under way on Monday, December 14.

The preview service began in September, with two trains to St Pancras in the morning and two from St Pancras back to Dover in the evening.

Now, there are high-speed trains running in each direction every hour.

The Javelin trains speed through the Kent countryside at 140mph, dramatically cutting journey times to the capital. Commuters from Dover can now reach London in just over an hour. Standard services between Dover and Charing Cross can take one hour 50 minutes, and two hours between Dover and Victoria.

Jon Hay-Campbell from Southeastern Trains said: "We have been very pleased with how the preview services have been going and we have seen a steady growth over the weeks and months since we introduced it.

"The services have seen passenger numbers rise up to almost 23,000 journeys every week."

However, all this comes at a price - with passengers being asked to pay more for the high-speed service.