by business editor Trevor Sturgess

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has hailed the launch of 140mph domestic trains as a great day for Kent and also good for business.

The PM was at St Pancras International to meet the 7.07am from Rochester on Monday.

He greeted VIPs, Kent Olympian Dame Kelly Holmes, Transport Secretary Lord Adonis, Gillingham MP Paul Clark and Gwyn Prosser, MP for Dover and Deal.

The train 001 was named after Dame Kelly. Other Kent Olympians Jamie Staff and Steve Backley also have trains named after them.

The Southeastern high speed services slashed journey times from many parts of the county, especially Ebbsfleet, Ashford, Gravesend, Dover, Canterbury and Folkestone.

Mr Brown said: "This is a great day for St Pancras, a great day for Kent and a great day for rail services in this region. Today is a momentous day in the glorious history of British railways."

He added it was a fantastic achievement of engineering and construction skills.

"This is the key infrastructure that will help businessses and communities flourish and deliver generation. I hope this will be a blueprint for the future of high speed rail travel in the UK."

Lord Adonis said: "This is a transformation moment for Kent, not only because it's the fastest service Kent has ever seen but also because of the regeneration effects that will come from transformed transport connections between east Kent, the Medway towns and London."