It’s almost five years since the last Eurostar train stopped at Ashford International. A transport campaign group is marking the occasion with a call for what it describes as “a concerted effort” from MPs in East Sussex and Kent to help restore the service.
International services from Ashford were halted at the start of the pandemic in 2020, with operator Eurostar maintaining trains will not stop at the station until 2026 at least.
Whilst the company has ruled out any return to services at Ashford, which would allow travellers from Rye to avoid the need to extend their journey via London, it has restarted services to Amsterdam and Rotterdam from the capital from this week.
Transport Futures East Sussex says the lack of international rail connections to and from Ashford has been to the detriment of would be tourists and to residents of both Kent and East Sussex. The campaigners say it also makes environmental and economic sense to restore the service.
Derrick Coffee from Transport Futures East Sussex says restoring the Eurostar link at Ashford International is vital for tourism in Rye and the surrounding area. “It would open up huge opportunities for visitors to enjoy holidays and short breaks on offer in our coastal and historic towns. Doors to this would be wide open again for all to share – especially those ‘near continent’ populations currently denied a vital Eurostar link – while the publicly funded International Station hub sadly and annoyingly lies dormant.”
He says Ashford International should play a much bigger role as a transport hub. “For East Sussex and Kent residents, near continent short breaks will again be possible without the costly trek to St Pancras International, while steadily expanding European international rail services will become accessible, removing the need to fly, so replacing short haul flights: that would help our efforts to reduce carbon emissions.”
Next year marks the thirtieth anniversary of the first Eurostar service to stop at the newly redesigned Ashford International. An £80 million construction scheme was completed ahead of the first train on January 8 1996.
In January this year Sir Kier Starmer also called for the service to return at Ashford. Speaking at Prime Minster’s Question Time he told MPs: “I know this is an issue of considerable frustration, but the decision in question is ultimately for Eurostar. We are keen to see international services reinstated to Ashford as soon as possible.”
Image Credits: Joshua Brown https://www.flickr.com/photos/joshtechfission/14961954169/ CC https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/, Les Chatfield https://www.flickr.com/photos/elsie/2390611284 cc https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/.
With St Pancras having to cram in the biometric European Entry System kiosks into its already limited space, here is another argument for re-opening Ashford International.
The mothballed Ashford International building is plenty big enough to accommodate numerous EES kiosks, thus reducing pressure on St Pancras, and reducing passenger pre-departure times. When fully implemented, the EES is expected to necessitate most passengers arriving at St Pancras even earlier than the current 90 minutes (as suggested by Eurostar).
My understanding is that there is not enough room at Ashford to accommodate the post-Brexit controls and the consequent mass of people waiting there. Whether that will change when the EU’s much-delayed EES system is introduced I don’t know. (The EES requires passengers to give biometric proof of identity such as fingerprints. That might prove faster in the long run, but for that first journey time will be taken giving and verifying the biometric proof.)
The Ebsfleet station, near the M25, is also closed. I don’t think space is the problem there.
Brexit is the gift which just keeps giving.
Ashford has much more capacity in the Departure lounge than Ebbsfleet and is a better candidate to reopen first. It also has better rail connections and better road access too as Ebbsfleet is frequently impacted by congestion around the A2/M25 junction.
Yes please, bring it back! I have freinds and family abroad who visit me and find it frustrating to be unable to disembark at Ashford International and catch the train to Rye instead of sailing past to St Pancras. Mobility problems make it impossible for me to go to St Pancras in order to visit my nephew and his family in Holland, something I was able to do when Eurostar stopped at Ashford International, or close freinds in Paris.
It is ludicrous that Ashford International is still not open.
Eurostar say they have no money – at the moment.
If Sir Keith Starmer and his government are so focused on growth, as they say they are, then come to an agreement with Eurostar. Opening this station will produce growth, increase tourism for Kent and East Sussex, simplify and reduce travelling time and save people money – the cost of travelling to and from St Pancras.
Talk is cheap.
Apparently, the Eurostar can no longer stop at Ashford because newer rolling stock needs a higher and longer platform. Is this true?
No it’s not true. The international platforms are designed to take [larger] trains with the European loading gauge.
The signalling system was upgraded just before Covid to take the new trains and there is no technical reason why they cannot stop at Ashford.
The opportunity to use the Railways for travel across Europe should be made as easy as possible. Ashford used to be fantastic for getting to lots of places very easily. We travelled from Ashford at around 9.30 am and went to Barcelona arriving at 7.30pm.
This is far better than flying!
Eurostar are still paying for the upkeep of Ashford International Station platforms. As part of the maintenance NWR High speed & NWR maintain the OLE Infrastructure to the station. As it stands no trains can utilise these platforms due to the International status of these roads, these costs must be substantial & it makes zero sense for it to remain mothballed.
Until Euro star stops at Ashford I flatly refuse to use it, I will not travel to st pancras station just to go straight past my home, it’s not just the cost it’s the time factor, if Eurostar won’t do it, get a company that will, Richard Branson has expressed an interest so he must think it is an economic proposition,
Eurostar never wanted either Ashford or Ebbsfleet stations to be permanent. I worked there for over 7 years, London St Pancreas was the head office and never liked Ashford Station and considered it unsuitable and then created an even smaller unsuitable station in Ebbsfleet that could not sustain over 700 passengers to the children’s funeral at Disneyland with only one small elevator to the platform. Eurostar destroyed itself!!!
It’s not just passengers from the local areas & south east who would benefit if Ashford was reinstated as a Eurostar terminal. We are in the north. For us to travel from London we would either need to get a prohibitively expensive early morning train to the capital or stay overnight the night before (again very expensive). Obviously driving to London is not an option. Ashford, however, used to have (and I presume still does) have good parking facilities similar to those at airports. This therefore gives the option of driving to the station to catch the Eurostar – a much easier and cheaper solution. I guess that there might also be affordable accommodation in the area too for an early departure.
And you make a key point: Ashford has a role as a park and ride facility for those who don’t live in London and don’t want the hassle of having to access St Pancras on public transport with kids, luggage, skis etc.
I live near Amsterdam and have a cottage in East Sussex. Can you imagine how I felt when the
Ashford stop was closed down…?
A recent email from Martin Woodfine of SHRIMP makes some interesting points:
This is a very grey area that the local and national rail groups, together with Kent County Council and various political representatives have been pursuing for a long time. It isn’t clear
cut. Firstly the major selling point of Eurostar is it’s speed between the major cities compared to air travel. A call into Ashford Int’l adds a minimum of 15 mins to each journey which the operators are reluctant to add to the timings, even if it is for only some services.
Second it was reported that all the internal security infrastructure within the station has been dismantled, meaning a lot of additional costings. Third, and controversially, the channel tunnel operator has always imposed very strict safety conditions on to trains that go through, which Eurostar have been keen to exploit to prevent other operators providing services. Both DeutscheBahn and Trenitalia have explored the potential of proving alternative services but have decided against it. It is understood that Department of Transport have very little room for input because they have zero financial interest in either the HS line or the tunnel. One prospect that the rail groups suggested was a shuttle Eurostar between Ashford and Lille, but nothing came of that.
MarshLink Action Group has been conscious of the inconvenience and expense to passengers resulting from this situation. We especially regret that the significant extra cost of a return ticket to St. Pancras now required to travel with Eurostar tends to incentivise air travel to Paris as an alternative. Although the future of services from Ashford is properly a matter for discussion with Eurostar by other stakeholders such as local authorities and Government, MLAG has nonetheless in its campaigning role made representations as and where appropriate to highlight the extent of local concerns about this matter, and will continue to do so.
We note also the meeting that was held on 14 February this year between a group of five MPs from the South East region, including Helena Dollimore MP, and the Rail Minister Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill to discuss the issue.
MLAG strongly supports the return of Eurostar services to Ashford international.
Stuart Harland
Chairman,
MarshLink Action Group
BRING IT BACK PLEASE !