On Jun 1, 3:36*pm, Roland Perry wrote:

In message
, at
07:24:46 on Mon, 1 Jun 2009, Mizter T remarked:

Ashford is a *run-down provincial town (sorry, but that's the
reality), and I can't *see why people would want to travel from there
to London and back on a *premium service outside commuter hours.

Though come the full service there will be 2tph off-peak from Ashford
into London.

Because that's what they had to promise.

Indeed - but I wouldn't be surprised to see a market emerge for the
new HS service, a mix of transferred traffic from the Mainline routes
and new passenger


And Ashford could also perhaps provide a P&R style
offering for those in the surrounding area, areas of which at least
are quite affluent. Also, I don't know Ashford at all well but
wikipedia pointed me in the way of this Channel 4 survey where they
judged it the fourth best place to live in the UK! See:
http://tinyurl.com/C4-best-places-to-live-05

They have very strange criteria. In any event I worked in Ashford for a
few months, and it's not as hot as they suggest. Maybe they are thinking
about some of the surrounding villages?

I offered that list with no particular comment one way or the other,
just as a contrast to your words - that said I'm pretty sceptical of
such things. Maybe they were thinking about some of the surrounding
countryside, which is rather pleasant.

Also, as Mr Thant eloquently phrased it downthread, Ashford is "the
junction station for a large part of
Kent" - given the quicker journey, I can imagine people being willing
to shell out on the HS1 premium so as to spend longer having a day out
in London instead of spending that time on the train getting there and
back - of course it all depends on the circumstances (or should I say
their circumstances), e.g. how big the travelling party is, what the
child fares are like, whether Group Save discounts will be available,
will Network Railcards be valid etc.


does *anyone know what catering they *are* providing on these trains?

None - or rather I should so I'm not sure there us going to be any, at
least I haven't heard of anything.

Not even a trolley?

Pass - dunno.