Next week's rail strike will not be as bad as feared after the High Court ruled that signal staff will not be allowed to take part.

It was concluded their ballot, run by the RMT, was filled with irregularities.

However, track maintenance staff will still strike as planned.

Before the announcement this afternoon (Thursday) a timetable of trains still able to run during the strikes was published, revealing that Ashford, Dover and the Medway towns will still have services - but no further out.

Rail passengers in Kent are bracing themselves for a week of trouble as members of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers and the Transport Salaried Staffs' Association plan to begin a four-day walk out on Tuesday.

The dispute is over Network Rail plans to cut hundreds of jobs and to increase the amount of weekend work.

Southeastern's revised timetable will provide a limited service to Charing Cross, Victoria, London Bridge and St Pancras International only. Detailed posters will also be at all stations from Saturday.

The revised timetable will begin at 7am with final trains arriving at destinations by 7pm, some leaving London as early as 4pm.

• There will be half-hourly trains from London Charing Cross to Ashford International, via Grove Park, Orpington, Sevenoaks and Tonbridge, and calling at all stations between Tonbridge and Ashford. Tunbridge Wells will also be served by London trains, but no further south.
• Ashford will be served by half-hourly trains from London Victoria, calling at all stations from Swanley via Maidstone East and Bearsted.
• Two trains an hour will run from London to Gillingham calling at all stations via the North Kent line, through Dartford and Gravesend. South London stations will also have a service.
• High Speed trains to Dover Priory from St Pancras will run on a roughly two-trains-an-hour frequency, and Gillingham will also be served by the HSTs, although no further.
• Buses will run from Gillingham to Herne Bay via Faversham; and Faversham to Dover via Canterbury, Ashford to Ramsgate via Canterbury West, Dover to Sandwich and Deal, Broadstairs and Ramsgate, Tunbridge Wells to Battle and Hastings and Strood to Maidstone West. Not all intermediate stations, such as Wye, will be served by the buses so check before you travel.
• All Southeastern ticket holders will be able to travel on High Speed services without paying a supplement and a half hourly shuttle service between Ebbsfleet International and St Pancras International will operate till 9pm. Passengers travelling from Ebbsfleet International will also be able to park daily at the station for half price.

A company spokesman denied it was directing resources towards customers in the west of the county.

Jon Hay-Campbell said: "Network Rail are trying to offer as much cover as possible but they have told us what they can and can't provide.

"It isn't up to us and we certainly wouldn't look to favour one area over another.

"If we have only a limited number of signal boxes available and choose to use those in east Kent, the trains wouldn't be able to get to London.

"They would stop at Ashford or Gillingham instead and would be of no use for most people."

For more information, visit Southeastern's website or national rail enquiries.