High-speed services to and from Deal and Sandwich will continue to be subsidised by Kent County Council for another year.

The news is due to be announced this week and will come as a welcome fillip to the area.

The introduction of new services has proved popular with regular travellers, with the number of season ticket holders using them increasing significantly.

KCC agreed to subsidise the three morning and two evening services to the tune of £190,000 on a trial basis for a year. They began last September.

County transport chiefs are expected to confirm that KCC will continue to meet some of Southeastern’s costs for a second year although the level of subsidy - used to support the costs of crews and trains - will be reduced.

While the number of commuters has risen to about 200, there is less direct evidence of whether the new services have helped encourage new businesses into east Kent in the wake of the closure of the Pfizer plant.

That has led to some criticism that public money is being used to subsidise commuters’ fares to London.

David Foley, the chief executive of the Thanet and East Kent Chamber of Commerce, said that on balance, a second year’s subsidy was right but that it could not continue indefinitely.

“In the long term, subsidies never work but personally I think this is the right decision as it represents a bit more 'pump priming’ and we know there is a focus on helping east Kent. The better connected a place is, the better you will do,” he said.

Speaking earlier this year, KCC cabinet member for transport Cllr Bryan Sweetland said he did not anticipate a problem with continuing the subsidy at least until the franchise for Kent’s railways was renewed.

The services, which operate Monday to Friday, take around 90 minutes. That compares with existing mainline services to Deal and Sandwich, which take around two hours and 15 minutes.