Mr Holden met passengers travelling from London to Hastings

Government-run South Eastern Trains took over the service after Connex lost its franchise 13 months ago.

Managing director Michael Holden was meeting passengers on Friday.

"I thought that in 12 months I would be able to get the company in the state it should be in - a year on I know it will take at least another year," he said.

Franchise shake-up

Railway services in south-east of England have been run by South Eastern Trains since Connex lost its franchise.

A new franchise holder for the South East is expected to take over in 2005.

The South East franchise covers trains in Kent and part of East Sussex and on routes into London from those areas.

The Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) stripped Connex of its franchise in June 2003, giving poor financial management as the reason.

The French firm was replaced five months later by South Eastern Trains, a subsidiary of the SRA.

The new franchise holder is also set to run high speed services on the new Channel Tunnel Rail Link from 2008 or 2009.

Some unions have said that they want to keep South Eastern Trains under public control, arguing reliability has improved over the past year.

A transcript of a live webchat with Mr Holden on Friday can be seen on the BBC Kent website.