One of my earliest memories is boarding the Eurostar to France at Ashford International when I was about five-years-old. I loved going on what I then called the “yellow-nosed train” and having a whole continent on the doorstep of our East Sussex home.
Anyone in Rye who has ever taken the Eurostar from Ashford after journeying only 20
minutes on the Marshlink to get there, will recognise this feeling. You could start the day with a coffee on Rye High Street and have steak frites in Paris for lunch!
But the closure of the international terminal at Ashford has made this once-seamless journey a thing of the past.
During the pandemic Eurostar decided their trains would no longer make the Ashford stop between London and Paris, making the service much less accessible for those of us halfway along the track.
Using the Eurostar now takes much longer and costs more, with my constituents having to travel up to St Pancras only to come back down the same way. It is particularly depressing to pass through the deserted Ashford International terminal before entering the tunnel.
Not only is this unbelievably frustrating, but it is also cutting off our area from opportunity. The impact on jobs, tourism, local businesses and relations with our European neighbours is huge.
That is why I have been working with other MPs in Sussex and Kent to campaign for an
international rail service to return to Ashford International.
In January, I met with the CEO of Eurostar to stress the importance of restoring the service to Ashford. I reminded her that Ashford’s international terminal was opened with significant public investment under the last Labour government, and that Eurostar had a responsibility to ensure that services stopped there as intended. Her answers were lacking, and the truth is that Eurostar used Covid as an excuse, having run down the service at Ashford International for years before with fewer trains stopping there. They cite less demand at
Ashford, but admitted to me that they have failed to do a proper assessment of demand post-pandemic and in light of the many changes that have happened in our region since then. If Eurostar will not step up and restart the Ashford service, we should enable another rail operator to take it over.
I have since met with the rail minister to discuss what the Labour government can do to help. The government has pledged its support to the restoration of international Ashford, and the minister is currently supporting measures to secure space to store trains and help other operators access the lines.
I have also reached out to interested rail operators Virgin and Evolyn, to emphasise the
business case for returning services to Ashford International.
The Labour government recognises that strengthening our cross-channel connections is key to boosting business, tourism and unlocking economic growth across our area. At a time when we need to cut carbon emissions, a decent international rail service is vital. I’ll keep up the pressure.
Image Credits: Helena Dollimore .
Thank you for your efforts Helena and good luck.
My wife and I enjoyed three Eurostar trips direct to Avignon on the Saturday special train; an unforgettable experience starting with ‘Bonjour,’ from two French police in Ashford station, then arriving in the Avignon Town station, at least once to a Al fresco meal on the platform provided by SNCF and the Mairie.
The 3 hour drag to St Pancras is very irritating.
DB did try to run trains several years ago but technical and political difficulties made it too complicated. Best wishes to Virgin.
Helena I agree reopening Ashford and restarting European connections are vital to restoring & rebuilding economic health & well being across the South East Coast. And confronting Eurostar with potential competition from other possible operators may make this more realistic – well done
So grateful you’re taking this on, it would be especially appropriate if it could be approved during 2025 with all the 200th centenary celebrations of the railway
I certainly support any action that has the Ashford stop restored, and agree with all sentiments mentioned. When decisions were made by Eurostar there should have been a consultation with business and the general public who used the service. And yes, it would be great to have it back, “this Year”.
I was certainly not the only one boarding and leaving the Eurostar at Ashford pre-Covid and having friernds and relatives from abroad using the service when visiting me in Rye. It’s infuriating to be on the train heading from or to St Pancras instead of stopping at Ashford International. Maybe competition would give Eurostar a much-needed kick in the pants?
Thank you for your efforts to get the international back into Ashford.
I do it the other way round, I live in the Netherlands and try to come over a few times a year.
I live in Rotterdam, where I can board and then, after arriving in st Pancrass I need to get back to Ashford to catch the train to Rye.
I can’t wait to see the service reinstalled in Ashford.
Just to echo everyone’s comments, it would be amazing to get this sorted. We have family in the Netherlands and (as we thought) the ease of us getting to them and them to us via Ashford was one of the reasons we chose Rye as a place to settle and bring up our family. It’s particularly annoying to have an unnecessary journey to and from London with small children, especially with the additional waiting times for check-in since Brexit, as what should a 5 hour journey for us turns into a full day of travel. Additionally annoying is arriving at Ashford on the way back from the continent only to find the rail replacement bus left for Rye 2 minutes before the train from London even arrived but that’s another story…
Would be great to have this much needed service back – and common sense!
Thank you
COVID is just a handy excuse to hide behind. The two main causes of the service to Ashford to be curtailed are the then UK government’s sale of it its share in Eurostar in 2015 (raising £500M+ ‘for the UK taxpayer’) and the decision to leave the EU in 2016 – and the exit in 2020. Both actions effectively placed the timetable out of UK hands. I don’t believe that demand for the service has changed significantly – and if it was reinstated I am sure that take-up would exceed levels previously experienced.