More than £300m has been put into the Kent economy since domestic High Speed 1 services began a decade ago, new figures reveal.

The train line, which runs from London’s St Pancras International to the Channel tunnel, contributed £72.7m to the county last year alone and since 2010, leisure journeys to Kent via HS1 have increased almost nine-fold from 100,000 to 890,000.

The data was compiled over a four-month period as part of a report produced by Visit Kent and tourism economists Destination Research to mark the 10-year anniversary of the line.

The research shows that since 2010, HS1 has led to the creation and support of 5,766 tourism jobs in Kent with the total economic contribution estimated to be more than £311m since services began 10 years ago.

This figure marks a significant chunk of the £1bn increase in Kent’s visitor economy since 2003 and which now stands at £3.6bn thanks to the 60m visitors it received in 2015. Data from 2016 is still being compiled but anecdotally businesses have called 2016 another very positive year.

Crucially, almost three quarters (73pc) of tourism businesses in Kent think the county has benefited from HS1 and more than half (54pc) reckon that their own company has been boosted by the link, which ferries nearly half of all visitors to Kent.

Jonathan Neame, chairman of Visit Kent and chief executive of Shepherd Neame pubs, said the availability of high speed rail connections to London had “played a huge role in our county’s growth”.

“Many organisations continue to work together to create a single strategy for tourism that helps stimulate ongoing investment in transport, accommodation and attractions so that Kent’s visitor economy continues to thrive,” he added.

Dyan Crowther, chief executive of HS1 Ltd, the company that owns and operates the line, said while it is more frequently used by commuters, it had “played a huge role in making Kent one of the most popular destinations in the country and Europe”.

HS1 Ltd has the 30-year concession to own and operate HS1 as well as stations along the route including Stratford International and Ashford International.

It was sold in July this year by its two Canadian pension fund owners – the $175.6bn (£134.2bn) Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and the investors in charge of the C$85bn (£51.2bn) pension plan for Ontario’s municipal workers – to the London-listed HICL Infrastructure fund, which bought 35pc, and the National Pension Service of the Republic of Korea, which snapped up 30pc. Both were advised by InfraRed Capital Partners.

The outstanding 35pc was purchased by infrastructure fund manager Equitix, which has more than £2bn under management.

The 10-year data by Visit Kent could be useful to proponents of rail projects including HS2 and potentially act as a catalyst for private companies to fund development of the railway, something Network Rail is increasingly keen on.

The taxpayer-owned company has identified an initial dozen schemes it wants to invite more private sector involvement in and businesses might be more willing if they are aware of the potential economic benefit.

Last week, Network Rail identified projects it believes should be part or wholly funded by private companies or councils, which would benefit from the works.

Examples on a list seen by The Sunday Telegraph included the potential upgrade to the Cumbrian line to help with the building of the NuGen Sellafield power station.

Also on the list are projects that Network Rail believes could be built, financed and operated without it being involved in any way. These ­include the proposed western rail link to Heathrow Airport and an upgrade to the Brighton main line in the Selhurst/East Croydon area. Funding from Coventry City Council is also suggested, towards station improvements there.