THUMBS UP TO EURO RAIL LINK

Four mayors and one council chairman from across East Sussex and Kent today (December 12) jumped on board Southern's new direct train service between Brighton and Ashford. The celebrations started at Brighton station as the local Mayor, Councillor Bob Carden waved a conductor's dispatch flag to start the journey of the 0934 Brighton to Ashford direct service.

The celebratory train journey was joined by each of the respective mayors and the council chairman at their local stations.

The local dignitaries on board were Councillor Julie Carr, chairman of Lewes District Council; Councillor Graham Marsden, Mayor of Eastbourne; Councillor Pam Brown, Mayor of Hastings; Councillor Ian Potter, Mayor of Rye and Councillor Norman Ayres, Deputy Mayor of Ashford.

The new service has reduced the previous journey time by 35 minutes to about one hour and forty-five minutes, with the additional benefit of no changes of train, where previously it took two changes of train to get from Brighton to Ashford. Passengers using the service will also experience the comfort of Southern's new 'Turbostar' diesel trains.

Charles Horton, managing director of Southern said: "We are very excited about the new Brighton-Ashford service. A whole package of measures including new trains, upgraded stations and competitive pricing will almost certainly attract more people across the region onto our services. This will be in addition to the many new rail passengers Southern has brought onto the railways over the past four years with more reliable and efficient train services."

The new service will provide a more convenient link to Eurostar services at Ashford and the future fast services into London. The introduction of this service is a major transport asset to the East Coastway.