canterbury to st pancras High Speed 1

[highburypete]

hi there,

looking to move to Canterbury soon and wondered how the journey was from canterbury west to st pancras in the morning around 7am and coming home from st pancras around 4.30pm.

just gauging opinions on:

- chances of getting a seat at those times and any times leading upto 7am or past 4.30 in the evening.
- How many carriages are there at those times.
- iv'e also heard that there is currently some work being done to the line between Ashford and canterbury.
this will in turn bring the time it takes to get from canterbury west to st pancras down by 10 minutes (hopefully giving a time of 44-45 mins to get to st pancras).
this Rail Line work was supposed to be finished by the end of 2016!!. does anybody know if these times are achievable and when this work will be finished.

many thanks in advance

pete

 

[paul1609]

Hello Pete,
I live on Marshlink line so use these train regularly.
In terms of journey time the fastest peak trains (that don't stop at Ebbsfleet Int) to St Pancras currently take 34 mins to/from Ashford International.
There is generally a 2 min stop at Ashford and from there to Canterbury West takes 16 mins so the fastest time is around 52 mins.
Most trains stop additionally at Ebbsfleet International which adds another 4 or 5 mins.
The distance between Ashford and Canterbury is just under 15 miles so I don't believe it will ever be possible to cut the current schedules by more than a minute or two.
Currently you would get a seat at Canterbury West and also at St Pancras provided you get there about 10 mins before departure but there will be standing passengers from Ashford in the morning and certainly from Stratford if not St Pancras in the evening.