HIGH-SPEED bullet trains are set to whisk passengers into London in record time.

North Kent passengers will be able to board the new £250m trains at a refurbished station in Ebbsfleet, from where a non-stop service to St Pancras will take 16 minutes.

And a service which stops at Stratford is expected to take about 20 minutes to get into central London.

Travelling into the capital currently takes more than 50 minutes from Gravesend to Charing Cross.

The operator for the service, which combines tracks used by the Channel Tunnel Rail Link and currently by South Eastern Trains, is expected to be announced later this year.

The Strategic Rail Authority last week signed a contract with Hitachi, which makes the legendary Japanese bullet trains.

The 28 new trains, capable of 140mph, are expected to be in service by 2009.