COUNTY councillors are poised to challenge proposals to cut some of Kent’s train services and question why domestic travellers will need to pay "premium" fares to use the Channel Tunnel Rail Link services for domestic journeys.

A meeting of KCC’s Conservative cabinet on Monday will consider a report by transport chiefs that has labelled the withdrawal of certain services as "unacceptable".

The report also says KCC should question the "blanket application" of premium fares, saying that in some cases, journey times will be quicker by just seven minutes.

The Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) announced in January that it intended to allow the franchise operater that takes over Kent’s rail services to impose higher fares on CTRL services.

These could be as much as 35 per cent higher for passengers travelling from Ebbsfleet in north Kent to London and 20 per cent higher for those travelling from Ashford.

The report states: "The addition of a premium fare on services from Medway, Sittingbourne and Faversham should be opposed as the travel time saving to London on the CTRL services is only some seven minutes quicker than the fastest services today."

The report recommends that KCC tells the SRA that the "blanket application" of fares be questioned and that proposed cuts to some services are unacceptable.

KCC is likely to press for urgent meetings with ministers and SRA representatives to talk through its concerns.