December 14 - Rail commuters in the South East of London will be able to travel at 140 miles per hour on domestic routes as weekday services of Japanese-built Javelin trains introduced in time for the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics were officially unveiled today by Prime Minister Gordon Brown (pictured) and Dame Kelly Holmes, the double Olympic gold medallist.


Brown was waiting at St Pancras Station in London for the first service, which slash journey times between the capital and Kent

Dame Kelly and Lord Adonis joined early morning commuters on the first official train to make the journey.

The train they travelled on was named after Dame Kelly, one of several honouring the achievements of some of Britain's most famous Olympic and Paralympic athletes.

The others are being named after athletes Steve Backley, Sir Steve Redgrave, Rebecca Adlington, Sir Chris Hoy, Ben Ainslie, Daley Thompson, Duncan Goodhew, Katherine Grainger, Lord Coe, Tanni Grey-Thompson and Jamie Staff.



Brown said: "This is a great day for St Pancras and for rail services in this area and for the UK.

"This is also a momentous day in the long and glorious history of British railways."

The Hitachi class 395 trains will reach speeds of up to 140mph (220 kilometres) per hour, using sections of the London-to-Folkestone high-speed rail link built for Eurostar trains through the Channel Tunnel.

The new 508-passenger trains, introduced by the Southeastern rail company, will cut the journey time from coastal Dover to London by 47 minutes to 69 minutes, while Ashford to London comes down from well over an hour to 37 minutes.

By the time of the 2012 London Olympics, they will be able to transport spectators from St Pancras to the main Games site in Stratford, East London, in just seven minutes.


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September 2009: Trains named after British Olympic champions
December 2008: Javelin train makes debut into London
December 2008: Backley asks public to name new high-speed Olympic trains
October 2008: Olympic train unveiled