Passengers on key Southeastern routes between London, Maidstone, Canterbury and the Kent coast are set to benefit from journey time reductions of up to four minutes.

The company says it is bringing forward timetable changes that will make life easier for passengers travelling during peak hours.

It is also introducing additional stops on some routes which will mean better connections to fast services into London nearly 30 minutes earlier in the morning, additional carriages and a better spread of services during rush-hour.

Southeastern managing director, David Statham, said: "We're always wanting to do more for our passengers, and these changes will mean that commuters using our services in places like Ashford, Maidstone, Canterbury, Dover, and Bromley will get a few minutes back every day.

"Wherever possible, we're going to be filling in gaps in service provision where they currently exist, with several areas seeing benefits as a result of the changes we are bringing forward.

"Bromley South will see a better spread of services in the morning peak to Victoria, and there will be additional stops and services at some stations where the current timetable has gaps.

"We're also ensuring that key trains used by school children have enough time allocated in the timetable to make everyone can get on that needs to."

The routes and stations to benefit from journey time reductions and other changes include:

• Ashford International-London Victoria
• Canterbury West-London Victoria
• Dover Priory-London Victoria
• Ramsgate-London Victoria
• Gravesend-London Charing Cross/London Cannon Street
• Tonbridge-Strood
• Canterbury West-London Victoria
• London Cannon Street-Margate
• Teynham

The changes are being introduced in May and printed timetable booklets will be available from Southeastern stations and from customer services in the week beginning April 8.

For full details of the changes click here