The Sheerness to Sittingbourne railway line has been given an early Christmas present of new trains - and Santa is going to try them out this Saturday.

Passengers have long complained about the age of the existing carriages which also stop at Queenborough, Swale Halt and Kemsley.

But this week Southeastern announced new rolling stock was being introduced.

It coincides with the line's first Santa Special which leaves Sheerness railway station at 1.48pm and again at 2.48pm. Passengers can also board at other stations on the line.

A Southeastern spokesman said: "More modern, longer trains will be used on the Sittingbourne-Sheerness branch line spreading the benefits of newer trains across our network."

The news came as the rail company announced its new winter timetable which comes into force on Sunday.

The spokesman said: "We are replacing the current two-car trains on that line with newer three-car, air-conditioned trains called the Electrostar Class 375.

"These trains also have accessible toilets and an increased seating capacity.

"There are 10 in total in our fleet although not all will be used on the Sheerness branch."

The current Networker Class 466 coaches have been in use since 2006 when they replaced older rolling stock. They are being moved to busier services around London.

There is no additional investment as trains from the company's existing fleet are being used.

The spokesman added: "The Networker Class 466 trains currently used are needed on other, busy services in the London area. By moving things around we have an opportunity to bring in newer trains for the Sheerness branch at the same time."

David Statham, Southeastern’s managing director, said: "We are always wanting to do more for our passengers.

"We’ve listened to the feedback of stakeholders whose views are invaluable to us in helping ensure we’re making changes which will deliver the greatest benefit to passengers.

"We’re building on the success of May’s timetable change by delivering further improvements and achieving the most benefits to the greatest number of people.

"Where possible, we’ve shortened some journeys and re-allocated trains to ensure better spread across our network. But we’ve had to make some journeys slightly longer in the London area to ensure everyone can use the railway as safely as possible.

“As always, our message to passengers ahead of the new timetable is check before you travel as train times may change.”

Free tickets to meet Santa are now all sold out. For details visit eventbrite at tinyurl.com/SwaleSanta

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