Southeastern has announced an additional morning high speed service from Dover Priory to St Pancras via Ramsgate, starting on Monday.

This comes after a collapse of the sea wall at Dover closed the line between Dover and Folkestone.

This announcement follows one made two weeks ago with two high speed trains added to the route since the line closed on Christmas Eve.

From Monday, the additional 5.42am train will call at Dover Priory, Martin Mill, Walmer, Deal and Sandwich via Ramsgate.

David Statham, managing rirector at Southeastern said: “Our train planning team have been constantly working on adapting the emergency timetable put in place after the sea wall was damaged and I am pleased to say we are now able to add another direct peak service to the timetable.

“We have also been able to reduce the time passengers have to wait to catch a connecting train on other journeys. These changes take time to plan, but we continue to listen to what passengers need and are constantly looking at ways to improve the service we can offer while Network Rail engineers repair the sea wall.”

The service will attach to the 6.15am Margate train, which will now begin its journey one minute early at 6.14am to accommodate the change, before heading to St Pancras.

Changes have also been made to the timetable to reduce overall journey times and limit waiting times for connections to the five affected stations.

Passengers on the 7.20pm from St Pancras, which arrives at Ramsgate at 8.31pm, will now have to wait seven minutes to catch the 8.38pm to Sandwich and Deal.

Those on the 8.12pm arriving at Ramsgate at 9.31pm will be able to catch the 9.38pm, and passengers on the 9.12pm arriving at Ramsgate at 10.27pm will be able to catch the 10.38pm to the two stations.

Charlie Elphicke, MP for Deal and Dover, said: “A second, earlier, direct train will really help commuters from Deal. This has been a very difficult time for rail travellers and my focus is now very much on how quickly we can get the sea wall rebuilt.”