Rochester’s new railway station will get the royal seal of approval today when it is formally opened by the Duke of Kent.

The £26m station is the focal point of Southeastern and Network Rail’s improvement to the train service in Medway.

But although it has been running since the middle of December, commuters have been unhappy there has been nowhere to get a hot drink or buy a newspaper or that there was only one ticket machine which often had long queues.

Southeastern had offered the option of running a snack bar to Tevfik Toros, who ran the kiosk at the old station in the High Street.

But they were left without facilities when Mr Toros felt he was unable to accept the terms and conditions of the offer.

A temporary mobile drinks van served customers until the new Beezoo cafe and shop open on Monday this week – in time for the Duke’s visit.

A Southeastern spokesman said: “A tenant was selected but pulled out after being awarded the unit, hence the process was restarted and has resulted in the unit opening later than planned."

A second ticket vending machine was due to open yesterday and a second ticket office window was fitted on Sunday.