September sees Southeastern celebrate the 10th  anniversary of the UK’s first and only domestic high speed train service. Opened to the public with a special ‘preview’ service on the 29th June 2009, Southeastern Highspeed has carried more than 100 million passengers over the past decade, connecting the capital to Kent.

To kick-start the birthday celebrations Southeastern invited colleagues from across its Highspeed network, Hitachi Rail and HS1 Ltd, to take part in a commemorative photo to celebrate the work of employees who have worked on the high speed line over the past decade.

Over the coming weeks, passengers will see both their local stations and Highspeed ‘Javelin’ trains decorated with a newly designed, 10 th anniversary logo. Southeastern will also be unveiling a specially branded train that will join others in its 29-strong Highspeed fleet, many of which are named after famous British athletes or which carry commemorative poppy or rainbow liveries.

To conclude the celebrations, Southeastern will be releasing a short film that highlights the impact the Highspeed service has had on employment, tourism and the everyday lives of people living in Kent.

With an unrivalled average delay per train of less than five seconds on Southeastern’s Highspeed service, and overall passenger satisfaction at 92% (4) – one of the country’s highest ratings – the service has proven itself to be best in class.

David Statham, Managing Director at Southeastern said: “We are incredibly proud to operate the nation’s first and only domestic high speed service. Southeastern Highspeed has played a key role in major events such as the London 2012 Olympics and been a catalyst for growth in the South East, generating economic, cultural and social value.
“Since its launch 10 years ago, we have seen a marked increase in the number of businesses wanting to invest and grow in the locations such as Stratford and towns across Kent we connect. We hope to have the honour of operating the Highspeed service for the next decade.”

Southeastern’s Highspeed “Javelin” trains, built by Hitachi Rail using Japanese bullet train technology, travel at speeds of up to 140mph, making them the UK’s fastest domestic train. The service has dramatically cut journey times for passengers travelling into London from destinations across Kent, for example:

• Journeys between London and Ebbsfleet have been cut by 33 minutes, from 51minutes to 18 minutes
• Ashford to London has seen a reduction of 43 minutes, from 81 minutes to 38 minutes.
• Those living in Canterbury have had their journeys into the capital cut from 1 hour 45 minutes to just 56 minutes.

The popularity of Southeastern’s Highspeed service has led to significant growth in passenger numbers, with a compound annual growth rate of over 11% – more than double that on the rest of the Southeastern network.

Changes to journey times have transformed the opportunities available to people living in Kent. High speed infrastructure has delivered an estimated £1 billion boost to the Kent visitor economy and supported around 72,000 jobs.