Southeastern will be Kent's rail operator until at least 2018

by political editor Paul Francis

The government has today announced a new franchise to run Kent's rail services has been put back, with a new operator now taking over in 2018 - four years later than anticipated.

The Department for Transport is to reorganise the programme for awarding
new franchises after the saga of the contract for the West Coast line.

That ended in chaos after flaws were found in the bidding process and led to a review of the way franchises were awarded.

Under the revised eight-year timetable, the new franchise for running Kent's rail services will now be get underway in 2018.

Southeastern, which has had a chequered history, will continue to be the operator until then.

The news has dismayed Kent MPs. Chatham and Aylesford MP Tracey Crouch (pictured right) said she could not understand why the South Eastern franchise would be one of the last to be awarded.

"I am unhappy about the decision and I am sure rail passengers will be horrified. I can see the logic [of staggering franchise awards] but I cannot see the logic of Southeastern having the longest extension when it is one of the poorest performing operators and one of the most expensive."

Transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin: "This programme is a major step in delivering tangible improvements to services, providing long-term certainty to the market and supporting our huge programme of rail investment.

"Above all, in future franchise competitions, we are placing passengers in the driving seat by ensuring that their views and satisfaction levels are taken into account when deciding which companies run our railway services."

In a statement, Southeastern said: "Southeastern, one of the Govia franchises, has a strong record of improving services for customers over the past seven years - with record levels of punctuality and customer satisfaction.

"The company also played a major role in the successful delivery of transport for the London 2012 Games last summer. It will continue to work with Network Rail and other industry partners to carry on improving services for passengers."

A public consultation on the shape of the new franchise for Kent was started by rail minister Theresa Villiers last year.

At that time, the government said the new franchise would begin in April 2014 and run until 2020.

Would-be operators had been expecting to submit bids next month.