Neither of us were shocked to learn that within the first week of its new services, the Class 395 ‘Javelin’ trans operating along High Speed 1 between Kent and central London are suffering with a lack of seating for commuters. The busiest journey (indeed, the first to log standees) is the 1737 St. Pancras to Ashford. To combat this, Southeastern has made this and the 0748 Ashford to St. Pancras departures 12-cars (2 x six-cars units) in length.
To note, the first-ever passenger-carrying Javelin journey took place on 18 June, for a round trip from St. Pancras to Ashford, carrying journalists and rail industry figures. Services started officially on 29 June to the following ‘preview’ timetable:
Inbound (arrival time at St. Pancras in brackets)
From Ashford International
0648 (0725), 0713 (0750), 0748 (0824).
From Ebbsfleet
0708 0733 0805 0835 0905 0935 1005 1035 1105 1305 then at 35/05 to 1835
Journey time to St. Pancras is 17 mins.
Outbound
From St. Pancras
0737 and at 07/37 to 1107 1307 then at 07/37 to 1837 1926.
All journeys call at Ebbsfleet (taking 17 mins) with the 1737, 1837, 1936 extending to Ashford.
Services operate on weekdays only until 11 December when the full timetable is instigated. (GL)
