Four firms lined up to bid for Kent rail

TRANSPORT Secretary Alistair Darling today gave the green light for a new 'flagship transport scheme' that will see commuters travel from the Medway towns and east Kent to London on 140mph trains.

Darling has given four rail companies the go-ahead to come up with plans on how they would better run the South East network - formerly operated by Connex, which was sacked for underperformance - in a new rail franchise called Integrated Kent.

In addition to running services into London Bridge, Charing Cross and Victoria, the franchise will use the soon-to-be-completed second stage of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link to run fast trains into the international terminal being built at St Pancras, via Ebbsfleet and Stratford in East London.

The four bidders for the eight-year franchise beginning in December - with high-speed services expected to start in 2009 - are FirstGroup and joint ventures between Stagecoach and the Danish state railway, GNER and Hong Kong mass transit operator MTRC, and Go-Ahead and its French partner Keolis.

'This will be a flagship transport scheme to deliver people to and from the Olympic Games should the UK bid be successful,' said Darling.