Before these HS1 services started there were letters to the press and posts to the Usenet railway news groups (and possibly here as well) suggesting that these services would never be a success (in the sense that people would use them) because:
- a premium was to be charged on the fares for the HS1 part of the journey and
- the services served the wrong area of London as people in Kent were only interested in reaching the traditional termini.
Neither of these predictions turned out to be true. In spite of the higher fares and going to St. Pancras apparently there are now not enough trains.
What a surprise!
It is absolutely clear that if trains do not serve the destination(s) that people desire to reach then, fast or not, people would not use them.