Full high-speed service launched

Gordon Brown, Lord Adonis and Dame Kelly Holmes at London St Pancras station. Picture: www.upmain.com

Gordon Brown, transport secretary Lord Adonis and Olympic gold medal winner Dame Kelly Holmes officially launched the UK’s first domestic high-speed service at a ceremony at London St Pancras on December 14th.

A very limited service had been running out of St Pancras since June, but the new December timetable has allowed a full service to be introduced.

Speaking to journalists at the launch Gordon Brown said ” I hope this will be a blueprint for high-speed rail travel in the UK. We will receive advice later this month from the company formed for HS2 to make the case for a national high-speed rail network across the country. Today’s event is a great example of the investment we need. Trains on time, trains of a high standard and trains able to go faster.

” Lord Adonis went on to say ” The issue is whether serious work on a north-south high-speed line starts now or it’s delayed another decade. It’s inconceivable that a generation from now work will not have started on a north-south high-speed line.”

A clearly delighted Dame Kelly Holmes said ” It’s a great honour for me that Southeastern Trains has named a train after me and to be 001, I have to say, is even better!”

The new service slashes journey times to a fraction of what they were, with passengers now able to travel between Ashford and London in just 37 minutes, previously this journey took around 80 minutes, and London to Canterbury in 59 minutes, whereas before it took around 95 minutes.

In 2012, the high-speed line will be able to whisk passengers from London to the Olympic village at Stratford in just 7 minutes.