Fresh doubts about fast commuter link

New doubts over plans to run super-fast London commuter train services on the Channel Tunnel high-speed link emerged today.

The new commuter trains are intended to run from Ashford and the surrounding area into King's Cross St Pancras by 2007/8 but ministers, it is reported today, are still arguing over the cost.

Senior industry sources say there is "not a cat in hell's chance" of building the new hi-tech trains - which would run alongside the 186mph Eurostars - on time.

The Evening Standard revealed last year that the scheme could turn into a "white elephant" and that the huge cost of the new stock - at ?20million each, nearly double the price of "ordinary" commuter trains - could scupper the deal. There is also the problem of expensive upgrading of local routes connecting with the Channel Tunnel link at Ashford to accommodate the new trains.

It is known that senior members of the Strategic Rail Authority - soon to be scrapped - have severe doubts. Running high-speed commuter services on the link was a promise made by the Tories in the early Nineties which enabled, under the legislation, huge sums of taxpayer cash to be spent on constructing the line. Doubts over the viability of the whole project will infuriate John Prescott, who has designated Ashford as the site for construction of tens of thousands of new homes.

The high-speed commuter service would involve up to 18 trains costing more than ?300 million - but it could also attract premium fares. The worry remains that the service will fail to attract sufficient customers. Connex had made clear it would not be able to afford to run the new service. The franchise is now back, via the SRA, under public control, but the Government wants to re-privatise it. The rail unions are campaigning to keep it under public control.

There are four bidders for the franchise who, as part of the deal, must agree to lease and operate the proposed high-speed domestic trains alongside the existing commuter services. There are said to be serious misgivings about the inclusion of the high-speed project within the re-tendered version of the old Connex franchise among the bidders.