Hopes that international rail services could return to UK stations abandoned by Eurostar have grown, with the government backing new competitors who plan to serve stops in Kent.
Ministers have been leaning on the rail regulator to give crucial space on the railway to prospective entrants who pledge to bring cross-Channel services back to Ashford and Ebbsfleet stations – and possibly London’s Stratford International.
All stations between London St Pancras and the Channel tunnel have been closed to international high-speed services since 2020, when Eurostar’s future was in doubt during the pandemic. Eurostar, majority-owned by the French state-owned SNCF, maintains that the stops are unviable, but new competing train operators are hoping to enter the market.
In a speech in Ashford on Friday, the rail minister, Lord Peter Hendy, is expected to say he has encouraged train firms to work with the region’s councils and businesses to “explore solutions” for Kent, adding: “I firmly believe that competition offers the best prospect of international services returning to Kent stations, and welcome the recent announcements that several new entrants are exploring the possibility of serving Ashford, Ebbsfleet and Stratford International stations.”
He will say he has made written representations to the independent regulator, the Office of Rail and Road (ORR), “to make clear our support for competition and the benefits this brings, including the potential for services to be reinstated at Kent stations”.
Lord Peter Hendy, the rail minister, has said the government ‘strongly welcomes’ the idea of competitors at unused international stations. Photograph: Piero Cruciatti/Alamy
The ORR is due to adjudicate next month on whether other firms will be given access to a critical London train depot for international services, Temple Mills, currently occupied solely by Eurostar, which maintains there is no space, given its own expansion plans.
In a letter to the regulator, Hendy said the government “strongly welcomes” the fact that potential competitors could go to the unused international stations, concluding: “The government believes these are important considerations for ORR in determining the various access applications.”
Potential competitors include Richard Branson’s Virgin Group, the British startup Gemini Trains and a partnership between the Italian state rail operator, FS Italiane, and the Spanish company Evolyn.
Campaigners are focused particularly on reopening Ashford International, which is nearest the Channel tunnel and was part of the Kent economy which owed significant development to new high-speed rail links.
Helena Dollimore, MP for nearby Hastings and Rye, has campaigned in and out of parliament for the restoration of the station. She estimates it would cost about £2m-£3.5m to reopen the station with border controls, including new EES (Entry/Exit System) kiosks.
She said: “I used to go to Ashford when I was little to get the train across the Channel. We really miss that link with our neighbours – but for our constituents it is also jobs, business, and opportunities.
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“It’s a ghost terminal. The British taxpayer spent £80m on it – it’s a no-brainer to get it up and running again because of the benefits it would bring: more jobs, more visitors more tourism. It’s crazy they have lost that closest European link.”
For Kent residents travelling to London for Eurostar, reopening Ashford International would reduce return train journey times to Paris and Brussels by at least two or three hours respectively. A report by the Good Growth Foundation claims it could deliver up to £2.7bn in economic growth over five years, and bring in half a million more visitors per year to the region.
A Eurostar spokesperson said: “Our Kent stations will remain closed throughout 2025 and will be reviewed in 2026. We understand that this may be frustrating, and we want to stress that we are closely monitoring the situation.”
Only 4% of passengers used Ashford or Ebbsfleet in 2019, with about 50 passengers from Ashford on peak services, according to Eurostar.
