Southeastern has introduced six additional off-peak services between Maidstone East and London Blackfriars.

The extra trains will call at West Malling, Borough Green & Wrotham, Otford, Swanley, Bromley South, and Elephant & Castle.

They will complement the existing services between Maidstone and London Victoria, as well as morning and evening Highspeed trains from Maidstone West.

The additional services will run on weekdays only, and depart from Maidstone East at 09:55, 12:32, and 15:55, while services from Blackfriars will depart at 08:32, 11:39 and 14:39, calling at the same stations.

They are in addition to the existing early morning and evening trains and are part of Southeastern’s move to restore 92% of pre-Covid capacity back into the timetable.

Also this week, Southeastern has introduced four more Class 707 City Beam units into service on its Metro routes, bringing the number in operation each weekday to 14.

Steve White, Southeastern’s Managing Director, said:

“Our focus is on winning back our customers, reversing the shift from public transport to cars that took place during the pandemic, and so we’re really pleased to offer these additional services to our timetable between Maidstone East and the City of London.

“Rail is the greener way to travel and we want to make our service an easy and compelling choice for people to make. From this week there are an extra six trains per day on this route, Monday to Friday, with a travel time of just over 60 minutes.”

Direct trains between Maidstone East and London:

• Maidstone East to London Blackfriars, calling at West Malling, Borough Green & Wrotham, Otford, Swanley, Bromley South, and Elephant and Castle – 06:01, 06:54, 09:55, 12:32, 15:55

Direct trains between Maidstone East and London:

• London Blackfriars to Maidstone East, calling at Elephant and Castle, Bromley South, Swanley, Otford, Borough Green & Wrotham, and West Malling – 08:32, 11:39, 14:39, 17:38

Highspeed services:

• From Maidstone West to St. Pancras International – 06:53 and 07:53, arriving at 07:44 and 08:46
• St. Pancras International to Maidstone West – 17:16 and 18:16, arriving at 18:08 and 19:09.

Regular services between Maidstone East and London Victoria also operate up to every thirty minutes throughout the day, whilst other services between Maidstone and London requiring a change of train also operate throughout the day.