Kent's rail operator has been given the go-ahead to continue running services until 2014, it has been announced.

The news that Southeastern has been granted a two-year extension to its contract is likely to come as a bitter disappointment to rail passengers.

The company has faced long-standing complaints about its services and Kent MPs have been highly critical of its performance, with several calling for it to be stripped of the contract.

But there was some better news for long-suffering commuters with the announcement that there will be a high speed service from Maidstone from May.

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Southeastern managing director Charles Horton said: "We’re pleased that the current Southeastern franchise will now continue until March 2014.

"Throughout, our focus will remain on improving services for our customers in Kent, south east London and East Sussex."

"From the summer this year we will move to the ‘delay repay’ compensation scheme, meaning that any passenger delayed by 30 minutes or more can claim compensation.

"This is an arrangement that will be welcomed by passengers and rail user groups.

"We’re also pleased to announce that from May 23 Southeastern will be introducing a new high speed service for Maidstone, something passengers and local stakeholders in Kent’s County Town have been calling for."

Southeastern operates services across Kent, running 1,800 trains a day and carrying 400,000 passengers.

Chatham and Aylesford MP Tracey Crouch said: "This was expected because the previous government’s contract agreement set the bar so low in terms of the targets Southeastern had to meet.

"This will come as a disappointment to many commuters and I anticipate a lot of correspondence from my constituents about this."

Keith Ludeman, group chief executive of the Go-Ahead group, the Southeastern parent company, said: "Our focus will be on continuing to further improve punctuality and reliability of our services for passengers.

"In the past four weeks Southeastern has delivered in excess of 90 per cent punctuality across the network.

"Southeastern is committed to increasing customer satisfaction, particularly through ensuring more effective passenger communication – especially in times of disruption.

"This continuation will allow us to further invest and improve performance."

Thanet North MP Roger Gale, who led calls for Southeastern to be stripped of its contract, said: "We want Southeastern to do what they should have done from the beginning.

"That is to provide a good service at a reasonable cost and one that is reliable.

"The costs have gone up and the availability of trains for those who do not want to use the high speed service has diminished. All of that is unacceptable."

He added: "I am quite certain this decision is ‘on notice’ and that in two years time, commuters are very likely to be looking for an alternative train operating company."

Tunde Olatunji, Passenger Focus manager, said: "Today's announcement confirming the two year extension of Southeastern's franchise will be received with mixed feelings by those passengers who have seen a deterioration in performance, sharp fare increases and little or no compensation for the delays.

"However, the silver lining for passengers who have felt aggrieved about the failure to get compensation last year is that the franchise extension has now included a consultation on changing the compensation arrangement to a system known as 'delay repay', where passengers are entitled to compensation for every journey delayed by more than 30 minutes.

"This is something we had argued for in the original contract, so we are pleased that it has finally been accepted.

"It should mean that passengers will be able to apply for compensation immediately rather than having to wait to see whether Southeastern's year performance has breached the threshold for awarding compensation."