Fair point. But I'm inclined to think, if it's worthwhile sending Javelins up to Canterbury and Ramsgate all day, Hastings & St Leonards doesn't seem so far fetched.
The strategic case for electrification and extension of HS1 trains seems strong. The Hastings-Tunbridge Wells line was badly disrupted by landslips this winter and the longer route to London via Eastbourne cannot have been very attractive.
Hastings and St Leonards are also in need of regeneration and the journey time to London is currently poor, an extension of HS1 domestic trains would bring them into the orbit of London. Without it they will be at a severe disadvantage when compared to other coastal towns, even Whitstable and Herne Bay will soon have HS1 trains if the timetable recast goes ahead. The cheap house prices in Hastings would be a draw for London commuters and historic Rye would certainly be very popular with them, so there is potential to grow revenue. It would also give a boost to the tourist industry in the area. The Jerwood Gallery at Hastings would be as accessible as Margate's Turner Gallery, which is being heavily plugged to Londoners wanting a day out.
Bexhill is quite isolated from London's influence with the direct route to London being via Eastbourne and although not deprived could perhaps also do with an economic boost to offset the effect of its ageing population.
Cost of modifying the junction at Ashford and purchasing new trains to cover any extra diagrams remains to be seen. However there are lots of spin offs for the wider railway network from the project:
The line is an isolated diesel route, it will not be closed and does good business and will therefore need to be electrified at some point anyway. There would be savings from not having to maintain diesel stock at some distance from their depot.
Rolling stock released could be used to strengthen services elsewhere either to the Uckfield line where there is peak overcrowding or to East Anglia, East Midlands or Northern where there is a need for more diesel rolling stock to reduce overcrowding and where there are compatible fleets with other class 170s.
The existing two car diesel units are insufficient to meet demand especially on the Eastbourne-Brighton section of the Ashford-Brighton service and if replaced could be replaced with 3 or 4 car class 377s which would increase capacity and reduce journey times for local and Brighton passengers.
Demand would reduce on the Hastings-Charing Cross classic services, easing overcrowding and allowing these trains to focus on the middle distance Kent commuter traffic to Tonbridge, Sevenoaks etc. Currently not all London bound trains can call at Sevenoaks/Chelsfield during the morning peak as they are already too full.
There is spare capacity on HS1 domestic services, which should be utilised to justify the capital cost of building it in the first place and relieve peak overcrowding on the classic services. More Kent towns have been added to the HS1 domestic network over time, notably Sandwich, Deal and Maidstone and more are to join - Whitstable, Herne Bay etc. As the capital's employment growth shifts east they will benefit from new jobs at Canary Wharf, Stratford, Royal Docks etc via connections from Stratford International. The recently announced move of the Financial Services Authority from Canary Wharf to Stratford was also interesting - 4m sq ft of offices to be built at Stratford will mean lots more commuters will be able walk straight from their HS1 domestic train to the office.
