BORIS Johnson has been sent a clear message from commuters and politicians alike – stay away from our rail services.

The Tory Mayor of London wants to take control of franchises operating in London's suburbia, taking more than 100 stations from Southeastern, including Sevenoaks.

But the town's Conservative MP Michael Fallon said he fears London is "creeping" towards his constituency.

He said: "Transport for London has long wanted to control these services and I don't want the London border creeping towards us.

"We don't vote for the mayor, so it wouldn't be right for him to set our fares."

Speaking of the impact on services, he said he had met Transport for London on Tuesday and had been reassured it would not result in slower services from Sevenoaks.

But he added: "The other point is fares can still be set by the mayor, and future mayors might ramp up fares in outer London to cross subsidise fares in inner London.

"That will be a real problem because we don't vote.

"Obviously it's just a proposal and the franchise will be decided by the secretary of state."

Passenger groups in West Kent fear there will be fewer fast trains during peak times but more overcrowding in carriages.

Sevenoaks Rail Travellers Association chairman Dr Roger Johnson said: "Transport for London has always wanted to expand its infrastructure.

"TfL is primarily concerned with suburban services and has little interest in long-distance commuting.

"It has a record of taking up paths for the benefit of London services at the expense of long-distance services.

"If it started pressing, as it possibly would, that all fast peak services from Sevenoaks also stopped at Orpington, that would be a complete disaster.

"Trains are already hopelessly overloaded and it would slow services down."

Southeastern's franchise is up for renewal in 2014 and the final decision will be made by the Department for Transport.

A Southeastern spokesman said if the Government does decide to grant TfL franchising powers, its parent company Go Ahead would "consider bidding in the usual way".

Mr Johnson's grand plan is to integrate London suburban services – many of which are currently operated by Southeastern – with services operated by TfL, such as London Overground.

He believes this will improve services and stations, provide safer, cleaner trains, and save roughly £100 million over 20 years.

Mr Johnson said: "The fractured organisation of London's suburban railways is totally inefficient and needs a complete overhaul."

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