THE arrival of high-speed trains in a Kent town will be the biggest single boost to regeneration and job creation in more than a generation.

This was the view of Dover's MP Gwyn Prosser, who described the news as "monumental" when Transport Minister Dr Steve Ladyman made the announcement during a visit to Dover Priory Station.

It follows the decision by Network Rail to fund improvements to Shakespeare Tunnel, which will allow the track to be realigned. This will provide sufficient room for passengers to be evacuated from the side doors of the new trains in an emergency.

Hourly services will operate from Dover to St Pancras in London when high-speed Hitachi train services are introduced on the Channel Tunnel Rail Link in 2009.

Train times to London will be slashed from nearly two hours to 76 minutes, but travellers will have to pay up to a 35 per cent premium to use them.

Dr Ladyman said: "We’re delighted that funding has been found for these improvements."

Mr Prosser said: “Make no mistake about it – the Government’s positive decision that high-speed Channel Tunnel trains will be running in and out of Dover within three years is nothing short of monumental.

"Linking up one of the busiest cities in the country to the busiest ferry port in the world provides us with the biggest single boost to our plans for regeneration and job creation for more than a generation."