DOMESTIC trains will not run on the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL) until the whole project is completed in 2007, rail chiefs have confirmed. But the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) is working on them operating from the first available day.

Commuters had hoped that section one of the CTRL would bring faster domestic services but that possibility has been ruled out.

To ensure new trains suited to the CTRL will be ready for 2007, and because it takes several years to build suitable rolling stock, the SRA intends inviting bids from would-be operators before the end of the year.

Connex South Eastern, operators of Kent and Medway's existing domestic services, denied claims by an industry source that it would not be exercising an option to run services on the CTRL.

A spokeswoman was unable to confirm whether or not the company had been given first refusal. But she said that Connex was talking to the SRA about the situation. She said: "I can definitely tell you we want to run those services."

Under the CTRL agreement, slots have been reserved for four trains an hour at peak times and two off-peak, providing services between Ebbsfleet in north west Kent and St Pancras, and east Kent/Ashford and St Pancras. The government has promised subsidies for the £5.4 billion line on condition that Kent and Medway benefit from faster commuter services.

Cllr Alex King, Kent County Council's cabinet member for regeneration, said it was vital for the future of Kent that domestic services were running on the CTRL from the start. The county council was working with a number of partners, including councils in east Kent wanting to plug into the new high-speed network, to ensure the county secured the best deal.