Eurostar did not properly market Ashford, and Railfuture is worried many people from Kent, Sussex, Surrey and South London will choose not to board Eurostar at Ebbsfleet but to travel by air.
Ebbsfleet International station is near both Gravesend and the M25 and has parking for 9, cars, but it is in one of the most congested locations on the motorway network. Worse still, Ebbsfleet International station has no direct access from other train services, and the nearest station is Northfleet, about a mile away with no specific footpath connection.
This has supported the 'reverse flow' connection to St Pancras to access the Eurostar services, which then travel back down the same routes to Ebbsfleet and Ashford on their way to the Channel Tunnel. Most Kent rail passengers who do not or cannot travel by car will be able to gain access to Eurostar services only via the four daily trains calling at Ashford or use the domestic service to travel all the way to St.
Pancras and then back out again. Paris, Lille and Brussels must continue to be served by these trains. Railfuture, in conjunction with European rail passenger organisations, has been campaigning within the European Union for improved cross-border rail services throughout Europe, in line with EU policy. Sign in. Premium login. Kent nline. Thursday, Nov 11 Find local news. Your local news for Kent.
Kent nline Sign in. Change consent Premium login. Live News. Eurostar marks 25 years stopping in Ashford and Ebbsfleet. Kent Travel News. News alerts Sign me up for news alerts. By Charlie Harman. This only lasted 15 years until 1 January when passenger services were diverted to the former South Eastern Railway station.
Remarkably the complete station buildings and platforms survived for handling freight and engineering trains until it was closed and demolished around for construction of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link.
When sectorisation was introduced in the s, the present station was served by Network SouthEast until the privatisation of British Railways. Ashford station has been rebuilt on two occasions in recent history. The station layout up until the early s consisted of two through tracks, two through platform loops and two bay platforms accessible from the east for terminating services.
For phase two of the Kent electrification scheme in , the two bay platforms were converted into through platforms whilst the main station buildings on either side of the line were replaced by an overbridge including a booking hall, newsagent and catering facilities. The supporting columns of these canopies were stamped with the date and the structures were similar in design to the platform canopies that survive at Ramsgate station.
The previous station entrance, dating from the s until when it was extended and redeveloped, and forecourt. The station was rebuilt as Ashford International during the early s for international services from mainland Europe; this included the addition of two platforms to the north of station the original down island platform had been taken over by international services.
The majority of the overbridge and platform buildings from the early s rebuild were destroyed during the rebuild of the early s. A small section of the s overbridge does remain however, as an emergency exit between the up island platform platforms 1 and 2 and the up side car park. There are ticket office windows in the domestic booking hall, as well as ticket vending machines.
There is a domestic ticket office window in the Eurostar station, staffed during morning peak only. The whole thing was a bit of a leap in the dark, not so much for Belgium and France, but much more so for Britain. Although sectorisation of British Rail in had helped InterCity generate a slightly better image of long distance British train travel, the reputation of British Rail still loomed large over the industry.
Few people took the British rail industry seriously as a travel mode of choice. It sounds a lot, but it was a long way off the 1 billion-plus journeys made in the s, and even the over million annual journeys made in the early s. The next question was how to brand those international train services. The Belgians and French might have little difficulty getting on board with such international train services pardon the pun but the railway-sceptical British were a different matter.
The answer was Eurostar, the train operator that was determined to be a low flying airline. Everything about the brand identity had as little to do with rail travel as possible. There was no mention of trains or railways in its name. The different classes of on-train accommodation had names which sounded airline, not railway. It had arrivals and departures, just like an airport.
And, just like many of the low-cost airlines which have sprung up since the creation of Eurostar and which destroyed the business case for the Nightstar sleeper services its customer care in the event of major disruption was — and actually still is — absolutely rubbish.
That might not have been an intentional part of the brand though. Ashford was the logical choice, at the junction of several railway lines, allowing a wide rail market to reach it. However, in order to accommodate Eurostar passengers, a complete rebuild of the station was required. Because of border control issues, the Eurostars required dedicated platforms inaccessible by domestic train passengers.
These platforms were placed in the heart of the station actually a rebuild of an existing island platform , while domestic trains used platforms on either side.
The Eurostar platforms would be accessible only from the international building, via a departure lounge airport-style, naturally on the upper level, and thence along a dedicated footbridge. Architecture and Design Group had already designed a new station building for Woolwich Dockyard, to some degree of acclaim see here.
Well, more like abject surprise given the prevailing opinion of British Rail. It opened in Here it is:. Lansley said that one of the key inspirations for Ashford International was the Maison de Verre building in Paris, which featured glass bricks and an exposed steel structure, just as Ashford International would, and Woolwich Arsenal already had.
With its references to s ancestors, Ashford International is a favourite of mine, despite its airport terminal leanings. And its lines also lend themselves to very effective artistic treatment in the style of inter-war poster art. Because Ashford International was built as an airport, rather than a railway station, it also simply had to have that airport staple, a long-stay car park.
It is finished in a similar style to the rest of the station, complete with glass brick lanterns.
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