Sussex rail travellers will get more than £1 billion worth of improvements after South Central today won the right to continue running services until the end of 2009.

The project includes a new link from Brighton to Ashford, enabling easier rail access to Eurostar routes, and the continuing £856 million investment in 700 new carriages to replace the old slam-door stock.

Some of the new Electostar trains have already been introduced but today's early morning announcement to the Stock Exchange confirms they will run throughout the network from Victoria and London Bridge to the Sussex Coast.

In addition, South Central has announced it will run new, hourly services between Uckfield in East Sussex and London Bridge from mid-2004 and between Brighton and Ashford in Kent from late 2005.

It will give rail travellers from Brighton and East Sussex a direct rail link to the Eurostar services to Paris and Brussels.

But there is no commitment to re-open the link betweeen Lewes and Uckfield. Studies into this option will continue.

The improvements were announced by the Strategic Rail Authority, which oversees the running of the rail companies.

The new franchise deal with existing franchisee Govia, which is the holding company of South Central, will run until December 2009.

When South Central originally put in its bid to run the services through Sussex, they wanted a 20 year franchise, but it was agreed this was too long and a compromise agreement allowing the rail company to continue until 2009 has now been reached.

South Central originally took over from Connex in August 21 on a temporary basis until a longer franchise deal was worked out.

Govia is part of the Go-Ahead group, which also includes the Brighton and Hove Bus Company. It also runs Thameslink, while Go-Ahead also operates the Thames Trains franchise.

South Central took over the running of the rail services from French owned Connex, which still runs trains through Kent to Hastings.

Strategic Rail Authority chairman Richard Bowker, who recently toured rail bases in Sussex, said today: "This deal is about the future, not the past. This will transform South Central into a modern railway fit for the 21st century.

"They will be able to concentrate on what matters to passengers, new trains, new services, better performance and more capacity"

Go-Ahead's group chief executive Martin Ballinger said today: "We are delighted to have now signed the new franchises.

"I am confident that the terms of the deal we have signed will enable us to generate an appropriate return from the business during the life of the franchise."

Although the franchise runs to December 2009, the SRA will have the option to terminate it on 12 months notice at any point after May 2008, if South Central does not come up to scratch.